The Sky's Reflection
by Kura-Tokiwa69
Summary: What will Tsuna do when he is expelled from his Vongola Decimo seat because of a misunderstanding? Even after his position is restored, is there something much more dangerous in the supposed misunderstanding than they could expect?
1. Disappearance of the Sky

**Hello! I'm back from my two-month HIATUS!YAY! Exams aren't over yet but my last paper is next week so no worries!(For now) For new readers to this story, thanks for giving this a go and just wanna let you know that I actually rewrote this because of the stupid flaws... To those who have read the old version of this story, thank you to those who reviewed and put this on alert! I reread all the reviews and it made me really excited so I decided replace these two chapters NOW! I'm glad that a novice (and extremely noob) writer with low self-esteem such as myself has caught your attention with this story!  
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**Just to let you know, I rewrote 8 chapters worth of The Sky's Reflection and the plot line has completely changed (It was a horrible experience, rewriting so much. I only wrote it during toilet breaks while studying XD). The ending in my mind has not changed and there will still be OCs, just not as many as before and they won't last very long (Depends on readers though. You'll get what I mean later on). There will be NO ROMANCE in this story unless readers really want it (I highly doubt so) so yeah... Sorry for ranting, it tends to happen on first chapters of any story I write...**

**DISCLAIMER: ... Do I really have to do this? It's kind of obvious that I don't own KHR :(**

**Enjoy and REVIEW PLEASE~ I want to know what you think and some constructive comments on how to improve my writing!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Disappearance of the Sky<strong>

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. You have been stripped of your position as the Tenth boss of the Vongola. New candidates for the position will be selected and you will no longer have your guardians. Please return the Vongola ring and Dying Will pills immediately." the Ninth said in a serious yet remorseful tone.

Tsuna gritted his teeth and reluctantly pulled off the ring from his finger. He slammed it on the desk and stepped back, waiting for a response. There was a stiff silence as the Ninth took the ring and placed it in an ornate box in the drawer. He then stood up and cleared his throat. "Sawada Tsunayoshi, you may leave and continue your normal life that you've always wanted again."

Tsuna kept silent and lowered his head. "Thank you for everything." he mumbled, turning round to face the door. Tsuna pushed it open, only to see the apprehensive looks of his guardians.

"Tsuna! How was it?" the ever optimistic Yamamoto asked.

Gokudera noticed that there wasn't a ring on Tsuna's finger anymore and his eyes widened.  
>"Take care of the new boss when I'm gone. Gokudera, please respect whoever is the next boss. Yamamoto, treat him like you treat me as your best friend okay? Lambo,-"<p>

"I will never acknowledge anyone else as juudaime! You are the one and only juudaime that I will follow! How can the Ninth make such a decision?" Gokudera burst out. "I'll go convince the Ninth to change his mind!"

"If you step one foot into that room, I will not hesitate shoot you." a high-pitched voice echoed in the narrow hallway.

"Reborn." Tsuna gingerly said.

Gokudera stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists, holding back his anger. Yamamoto sensed the tension and his smile dropped. "Why did you attack our allies In the first place?..."

Tsuna cringed at the statement and saw that his other guardians had averted their gaze from him.

~~~~~~~.

"Tsuna! Hurry up! We're going to be late for the meeting!" Yamamoto called out, adjusting his tie without much success.

"Don't rush juudaime!" an over protective right-hand man yelled. Tsuna smiled to himself as he continued listening to their senseless bickering. He tried to flatten his gravity-defying hair and straightened his suit in front of a full length mirror. The reflection didn't show a useless, dame Tsuna anymore. Instead, the person in the mirror was a first year high school student, slightly more confident and much stronger than before. Tsuna had grown taller over the past year and managed to get into Nanimori High School, along with his other guardians, even Chrome. A few months ago, he had made peace with the Shimon Family and officially accepted the position of the Vongola Tenth boss. Today was no different than any other day when he had to go for meetings and meet the allied families to know them better. Reborn told him that he had to complete his studies first before going full-time as the head so it was much relaxing for Tsuna even though they had to fly to Italy every once in a while. He had grown more confident and wiser, thanks to Reborn (unfortunately). No doubt that he had still retained his clumsiness and would trip over air sometimes and stutter occasionally, but other than that, all was fine and dandy. "Go ahead without me! I'll be there soon!" Tsuna hollered from the large room. Hearing the sound of footsteps disappearing, he went back to admiring himself in his neat and crisp suit. Never in his life would he imagine himself wearing a suit and be in such a grand room. Once he was done, he went and took his mittens and dying will pills even though he didn't need them to go into Hyper Dying Will mode anymore but he wanted to keep that a secret for some unknown reason. As he strolled down the empty hallway towards the meeting room, he heard whispering from the room which the family whom they were meeting with, the Scuro Vampa family.

"Haha, our boss will surely succeed! I'm sure he can overthrow the Vongola! With that new power, nothing can stop him! Not even that newbie Decimo!"

_What? What are they talking about? Overthrowing the Vongola?_ Tsuna bit his lower lip as he contemplated on barging into the room and demanding what was going on or to ignore it and walk on as if nothing happened. His dame side took over and he settled for the second option. He walked briskly towards the meeting room and settled down, acknowledging his guardians who were seated around him.  
>The meeting went smoothly but Tsuna still could not get that nagging feeling off from his chest. He examined the boss of the Scuro Vampa famiglia in front of him and he seemed quite normal. A man in his forties, wearing a worn out but neatly pressed suit and a cheerful disposition to him. Even so, appearances can be extremely deceiving.<p>

When the meeting was over, Tsuna quickly made his way back to his room, much to his guardians' surprise.

When he had reached, he switched on his laptop and waited. He didn't tell anyone, not even Reborn, about what he had overheard since he wasn't sure. When his computer had finally loaded, he accessed the Vongola files and searched for the Scuro Vampa family.

Name of boss: Lorenzo Benigno

Strength: 682 members, specialised in creating weaponry.

Tsuna didn't bother to read any further and switched off his laptop. _I should go inform the others!... No wait! I can't drag them into this! Reborn won't believe if I just tell him that I overheard a conversation... What should I do?..._

Suddenly, a knock on the door jolted him from his internal conflict. "C-Come in..."

"B-Boss... We're going out for a while because y-your Dad wanted to show us around... He said that he'll take you out separately for some father-son b-bonding..." Chrome said, meekly.

"Ah, okay... Have fun then!" Tsuna answered, smiling at her warmly. Chrome smiled back and went off, closing the door very gently.

_Looks like I'll have to scratch the plan of asking them... Maybe I should go by myself... Nothing will go wrong... Right?_

Tsuna crept out of the Vongola Headquarters as discreetly as possible and took a cab to the Scuro Vampa family's headquarters. Using the limited knowledge of the Italian language and some weird hand gestures, he managed to get the destination right and slumped back in his seat. _First, I'll have to make up a reason for going there..._

There he stood. In front of the towering mansion. It wasn't as big as the Vongola's but it looked rather grand. He had seen the layout of the building from his laptop just now and decided to sneak in from the back.

Opening an air vent, he slid in and started crawling in the dark, cramped space. It wasn't so bad since he had some training from Lal during the fight with Byakuran. Tsuna sighed and shuddered at the memory of the sadistic training but shook it off and continued crawling. Soon he saw some light in front and hastened his speed. He looked down and realised that he was just above the meeting room which was empty but the files on the table showed that they would be having a meeting later on. He carefully lifted the grilles and jumped down, landing gently on the carpeted floor. At that moment the boss, Lorenzo Benigno, entered.

"Vongola Decimo. What are you doing here? You can be charged for trespassing, even though you are our ally." his low voice echoing the room, as if to mock the young boss.

"I know your plans! You're trying to overthrow the Vongola with a new power you created, aren't you?" Tsuna half yelled, a hint of fear in his attempt to sound intimidating.

A smirk appeared on the other man's face. _Uh oh, not a good sign..._ "Oh? You found out? You heard it from my subordinates didn't you? Haha! Well it IS true but what can you do? Oh yes, do you want to know what I'm creating? " All of a sudden, his men burst through the doors and surrounded Tsuna who immediately went into Hyper Dying Will mode. _How did so many appear at once?_ _Did they know that he was coming?..._ He quickly knocked them out effortlessly and readied his fist for a punch at Lorenzo who discreetly took out a Swiss knife. "You know what your biggest mistake was? Not telling anyone that you came here~" Tsuna's eyes widened as the old man broke into a wide grin. The Decimo punched him and felt a sharp pain on his arm. He looked down and saw a dark red patch forming on his sleeve and the red liquid dripped onto the carpet. Suddenly, a small figure appeared at the door, with several other people behind.

"Tsuna! Release him at once! Why are you attacking our ally?" Reborn said, sternly. Tsuna couldn't say anything as he gaped like a fish out of water.

"You planned this didn't you?" Tsuna shouted, grabbing Lorenzo's suit, rage bubbling inside him.

"Tsuna! I said release him!"

Tsuna let go reluctantly and his flame died down. The other men behind Reborn went forward and grabbed Tsuna's arm, pushing him out of the room. The teen looked back, catching a smirk on the scheming man's face.

-Back at the Vongola Headquarters –

The Ninth sat behind his desk and let off a heavy sigh. "Sawada Tsunayoshi... Why did you attack him? He is an important ally to the Vongola."

Tsuna held back the urge to scream that they were planning to overthrow the Vongola and that they had some stupid new weapons that could destroy the Mafia altogether but of course, he had enough brains to know that shouting wasn't going to work. "They are creating weapons and are planning to overthrow the Vongola." he said as calmly as he could for the hundredth time.

"We need evidence but you have none. They even caught you on camera breaking into their data storage room, wrecking it after messing up the files and severely injuring some of their members. Reborn and I have done everything we could to convince them of your innocence but it seems that they have too much on you... The Vongola Council has even found another candidate with the blood of the Vongola..."

The boy's jaw dropped. He had never even stepped foot in any room nor injure someone badly... _What are they planning?... I thought there weren't any more candidates since I was the last one..._ "I didn't go there!-"

"Seeing is believing, I'm afraid... I've even tried to bring in the Cavallone family to try and clear your name but the council was adamant with their decision." he said, shaking his head. "Lorenzo Benigno is extremely angry and demands punishment. It was also partially your fault. You should know that it would have cost us our ties with them and you of all people should know that! What you did was very reckless and even I can't do anything. Even if something was going on, you should have thought through it properly first before acting out. The Vongola council has decided and you will have to step down from the Vongola Tenth position."

"What did Dad say?..." Tsuna mumbled.

The Ninth hesitated. It was hard for him to break the news to someone who was like a grandson to him. "... He... He said to do what's best for the Vongola... I trust you, Tsuna. We trust you. It's just that majority of the council members have requested that a new boss take over and I don't have much say there..."

"I-I understand... What about my guardians?..."

"The Council has also requested that they follow the new boss because there will be very important meetings and looking for new ones would take too long."

"What? But they are MY guardians! They can't just say that!"

"I know that they should follow you and I did bring that matter up but they wouldn't hear of it... Look Tsuna," Nono leaned in closer to the slightly flustered teen. "I believe you when you said that the Scuro Vampa is planning something and also, there seems to be something fishy in the Vongola Council but we can't do anything now. But for you, it's different. You are now no longer part of the Mafia so you are not linked to them anymore. I trust that you can do something about it. Here," he took out the Natsu ring and handed it to Tsuna who just gasped silently. "I know you can handle this externally and I will do my best to help you and your guardians, good luck... I'll explain it to Reborn later but you have to pretend not to know anything okay? We don't know what might happen during these maddening times with so much technological advancements..."

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna kept silent and walked down the hallway, not looking at his guardians. "Goodbye everyone." he mumbled, holding back his tears.

"Herbivore." Hibari growled. "Where do you think you're going?"

Tsuna flinched a little but continued walking. He was used to Hibari's scary ways but sometimes he meant well. This time with that statement, he could actually mean that he cared. After all, he was quite interesting to Hibari as an "omnivore".

"Is something wrong? Please tell us!" Yamamoto said, a frown marring his fine features.

"Take care of yourselves okay? I'll explain it you guys next time..."

"Juudaime! I'll follow you wherever you go! I won't stay in the Vongola if you're not in it!" Gokudera yelled, chasing after Tsuna.

"Gokudera Hayato. The Council and the Ninth's orders are final. Are you disobeying them?" Reborn said sternly, glaring daggers at the fuming bomber.

"Why can't I follow juudaime? He's our boss and we decided to follow him, not some new boss! I won't betray juudaime!" Gokudera retorted. It wasn't wise to oppose Reborn but this was one issue Gokudera could not lay down. His loyalty and pride was at stake.

"I extremely agree with octopus-head! Sawada here is an important friend! You can't just throw him out like that!" Ryohei shouted.

Chrome suddenly stepped up and bravely declared, "I-I will only follow Boss!"

Tsuna watched from the sidelines as his guardians stood up for him, even Chrome. Turning his head, he saw Hibari staring at him.

"Do you have a plan?" Hibari asked in a low voice.

Tsuna hesitated for a while before answering, "Sort of... I need more time to think about it..."

The skylark just gave a "Hm" and walked off. "Don't take too long, herbivore."

"Hey, we can talk this through can't we, Reborn? You of all people should know that Tsuna is a precious friend of ours and that he's the most suitable one to be the boss right?" Yamamoto said, trying to convince Reborn.

"I don't have a say in this. Tsuna, the plane is waiting, go now."

"Juudaime! I'm coming with you-"

_Bang._


	2. New Beginning

**Second chapter! Enjoy and review! :)**

**My underline thing doesn't seem to work! Grrrr...  
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><p><strong>Chapter 2: New Beginnings<strong>

_Why can't I follow juudaime? He's our boss and we decided to follow him, not some new boss! I won't betray juudaime!_

_Hey, we can talk this through can't we, Reborn? You of all people should know that Tsuna is a precious friend of ours and that he's the most suitable one to be the boss right?_

_I don't have a say in this. Tsuna, the plane is waiting, go now._

_Juudaime! I'm coming with you –_

_Bang._

Tsuna's eyes widened and he quickly turned around. _Who got shot?_

He saw Gokudera frozen in his spot with fear and resistance in his eyes as a few strands of his silver hair floated gracefully to the ground.

"I told you to stay didn't I?" Reborn muttered, his gun still trained on the Storm guardian. A stiff silence ensued the narrow corridor they were in and no one moved at all for the next few minutes. The silence was soon broken by Gokudera mumbling in a miserable tone, "I'm sorry juudaime... I have failed you... I'm so sorry…"

_No... It's not your fault!... Reborn... Do something!..._ Was what he wanted to say but nothing came out from his mouth. He stole a glance at Reborn who had flashed a knowing smirk in his direction. _Eh? Did I just see that right? Does Reborn know?... _Tsuna sighed inwardly and left, leaving his guardians with forlorn expressions on their faces. The deed was done; nothing could be changed for now.

The plane ride back to Japan was a depressing one and Tsuna couldn't help but think about the happenings around the Scuro Vampa family. If they were going to overthrow the Vongola, why get rid of him, a teenage boss? After all, he was new and inexperienced unlike the Ninth. Tsuna scratched his head in exasperation and slumped back in his seat. _What am I going to do now? They're doing something and I have to stop them!... As much as I hate to say this but I have to get back my position as the Vongola Tenth... But how?... I can't do much without my guardians around! What should I do?..._

He fingered the Natsu ring and sighed heavily. Nono doesn't seem to have much impact in the Vongola Council now... He even suspected the council of foul play... _Why is this happening now when the important family gatherings are approaching?..._

~~~~~~~.

"Ah! Tsu-kun! Welcome home! How was the trip with your friends? Eh? Didn't Reborn and Lambo come back with you?" Sawada Nana chirped from the kitchen.

Tsuna looked around nervously, trying to think of a suitable excuse. "Erm... They... I wasn't feeling well so I came back first..."

"Oh dear! You should go get some rest then! I'll call you when it's time for dinner!"

He trudged up the stairs without answering, dropped his bags and fell straight on to his bed face down. I can't be so dame anymore... Why is this happening? I have to think of a plan... Nono and maybe Reborn believe me but my own Dad won't believe me-

"Tsuna-san?"

Tsuna glanced at the door from the corner of his eye and saw I-pin. "Come in..."

"Is Tsuna-san not feeling well?" the chinese girl inquired, placing a small hand on his forehead.

"No, I'm fine thanks..." he said softly, giving a feeble smile. "I just have a lot on my mind right now..."

I-pin nodded and patted Tsuna head before leaving. "If you need anything, call I-pin!"

The ex-Vongola boss sighed and closed his eyes. Maybe some sleep will help to clear his jumbled up mind... Just as he was about to lull off to dreamland, his phone suddenly rang, jolting him awake.

"Hello?..."

"Tsuna! I believe you! I'm on your side!"

"Huh? Enma? What are you... Oh... Wait, you believe me?" Tsuna perked up from his groggy state and listened intently.

"Y-You would never attack anyone else for no reason a-and... I also think that the Scuro Vampa is up to something... I can't believe that they're going to appoint another decimo for the Vongola... After everything that happened too..." the phone was abruptly taken away and a domineering female voice took over.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. What are your plans now? Do not drag Enma down with you if you are so weak-minded."

Yes, this lady was just as scary as Hibari. Definitely Adelheid the Ice Queen. "In fact, I do have a plan." he took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "I will set up another Family and clear my name externally. After that I will get back my position as Vongola Tenth and bring Scuro Vampa down. " he said in his most confident voice.

Other than a small "Heeeh?" in the background, all was silent. Adelheid then spoke again. "How, do you intend to go about building up another family? Look at the reputation of the Vongola and look at yourself. What makes you think you can go against the entire Vongola and their allies?"

At this point, Tsuna's confidence was dropping drastically with every second that passed and beads of perspiration started to form on his head. He was just spouting rubbish to get Adelheid off his back but now she was trying to get him to elaborate further? "I'll... I'll transfer schools and find some people to help me. We'll work it out somehow... But for now, I would like to ask for the Shimon family's support. Will you help me?"

"Yes of course, Tsuna! I'll definitely help you!" Enma shouted towards the speaker. Adelheid grunted and answered, "Okay. We will support you but if we feel that you are lacking, we will pull out immediately. Do you understand?"

"Y-Yes..."

"D-Don't worry!... Everything will be fine!... Contact us soon okay?..." Enma assured, hanging up.

"Adelheid... You didn't have to be so harsh to him..." said Enma.

The Ice Queen grunted. "If I wasn't harsh, that boy would still be rolling in bed, feeling depressed! He needs a push, just like you!" she said, sighing at the end.

Enma sweat dropped and scratched the back of his neck, "Ahaha..."

"You don't need a push... You need a good hard kick! Hah!" Aoba insulted, walking into the kitchen to get a drink.

"Ignore him, Enma." Adelheid said, patting Enma's shoulder before leaving for her room. "Dinner will be ready soon."

"Sigh... Tsuna..."

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna dropped his phone onto the bed and went over to the computer, switching on the power. _Schools... Schools... Which one should I transfer to?... Ah! Reisen High School! Hm... Eh? There are quite a few Mafia members studying there? I'm having second thoughts now... Wait... I can find some help there, can't I?..._

~~~~~~~.

"What... Do we do now?..." Yamamoto asked, breaking the silence in the room. They looked at one another with uncertainty when suddenly, the door creaked open slowly. The Ninth and Reborn entered, looking solemn.

"You will have a new boss and Tsunayoshi-kun will not be part of the Mafia anymore."

Chrome seemed the most distressed out of all the guardians while Gokudera was the most enraged one. Ryohei and Lambo couldn't understand why Tsuna had to leave the " extreme " group and Hibari looked bored yet confident about something.

"Where's Tsuna? You can't be serious about stripping his title...Anyway, I will not accept a new boss." Yamamoto said, folding his arms. Gokudera continued to sulk and curse under his breath.

"The unknown candidate with the Vongola blood will be coming soon." Reborn reported, ignoring his question. "For now, you will go back to Japan and go to school as usual tomorrow. I'll see you at the plane later." Reborn answered, turning to leave.

"How am I going to face juudaime?..." Gokudera said, holding his head in his hands. "I should have noticed his actions earlier and maybe I could have helped or stopped him!... Damn it all!" he shouted, punching the wall several times and ignoring the stinging pain in his fist. _This pain is nothing compared to what I'm feeling now… Juudaime…_

~~~~~~~.

"There, application sent." Tsuna mumbled, stretching from his seat. "Time to pack..." he got up and started to take his clothes from his drawer, packing it into a bag. Once he was done, he took out a piece of paper and started writing something.

"Tsu-kun! Dinner time!" Nana called out from the kitchen.

"A-Ah okay! I'll be down in a sec!..." he finished up his last sentence and went down for dinner.  
>"It sure is quiet without Reborn and Lambo here!" Nana said, putting food onto the already large pile of food on Tsuna's bowl. For the first time in a long while, there was no one to steal his food.<p>

"Y-Yeah... It... Is..." he mumbled, looking down at the floor. _Will I ever hear their racket again?..._

That night, Tsuna set his alarm to ring at 4.30 a.m so that he would be up earlier than everyone else and leave unnoticed.

"Mama!" Tsuna shouted, jumping into her arms for a hug.

"Ara, ara! Tsu-kun! What's wrong?" Nana said, stroking his untamed hair.

"N-Nothing... Just wanted to tell you that I... L-Love you..." Because I don't know when I'll see you again...  
>Nana giggled a little and ruffled his hair. "I love you too, Tsu-kun! It's been so long since you hugged me!"<p>

Next, Tsuna went to I-pin's room and knocked on the door. She opened the door and ushered Tsuna in.

"Ni hao, Tsuna-san! Is there something you need?"

"Ah, no! It's just that...- Where's Fuuta?"

"He went to friend's house for sleepover!"

"Oh I see..." _looks like I can't say goodbye to him then..._ "I-pin, you should take care of Lambo and Fuuta like they are your siblings okay? Since you and Fuuta are more mature!"

I-pin tilted her head. "Of course we will! But why are you saying this?"

"Haha, I just wanted you to know that both of you are very dependable! Oh look at the time! Time for bed! Goodnight, I-pin!" Tsuna scrambled up and went to bed. He looked around his room and melancholy washed over him.

_When would be the next time he would step foot in this place again? What would happen to the times he had with his friends? His comrades? What if he never got his position back? Does that mean he could never return home? Would Reborn continue to live here or go back to Italy?_ He kept tossing and turning in bed as the questions swirled around in his mind till he fell asleep.

~~~~~~~.

_Beep beep! Beep be-_

Tsuna got up and for the first time, he actually missed Reborn's threats. _Wow, wait, seriously?_ Shrugging it off, he quickly got ready and in five minutes, he was out of the house. The note he wrote was left on the dining table and he held back a tear when he turned to look at his home one last time. _Goodbye everyone... Bye... Mum..._

Walking down the empty streets before the sun was up was certainly a novel experience. The sky was a dark hue of blue and the cool breeze swept at his face, lightening his mood a little. This was the first time he had seen all the stalls closed and the peacefulness of Namimori which he had dearly missed after Reborn came rudely crashing into his life... Just the thought of that made him sigh. As he reached the train station, he bought a ticket to a place two towns away, Reshun town. "Goodbye, Namimori."


	3. Friend or Foe?

**Hello! I'm not sure if this alerted the previous followers of the first two chapters but just to let you know, I did post the new chapters up so jump back to the first chapter if you haven't! THANKS A BUNCH!****Oh yes... HAVE YOU READ THE LATEST CHAPTER OF KHR? I'M SO RILED UP NOW! *cough* okay sorry.**

**ENJOY AND REVIEW! ^^**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3: Friend or Foe?<strong>

"Ah, Reborn! Welcome back! How was the trip?" Nana greeted, getting ready to prepare breakfast.

"It was okay." Reborn bluntly said, throwing in a suitcase with Lambo in it. "I'll go wake Tsuna up."

"Okay! He's going to be late if he doesn't wake up soon!" she said, making her way towards the kitchen.

Reborn went to Tsuna's room and kicked the door open, ready to give his usual wake-up call with his 100lb Leon hammer when he felt something was amiss. His room was suspiciously neat and tidy, the bathroom was dry, his clothes in his wardrobe had diminished in quantity and the worst of all was that Tsuna himself wasn't there. His bed was already made and the room looked much emptier. Suddenly, the clattering of plates and utensils were heard. Reborn rushed down the stairs and saw Nana on the ground, tears trickling down her cheeks and in her hand was a piece of paper. Reborn carefully pried the crumpled paper from her hands and read it.

_Hi Mum, I-pin, Fuuta, Lambo and maybe even Reborn. By the time you read this, I would have already reached my destination. Don't worry about me, I'll be attending another school and I will get a part-time job so don't worry about my expenses...  
>I'm so sorry for not telling you in advance but I couldn't bring myself to break the news to you personally...<br>Take care, everyone. I'll call once in a while to tell you what's going on.  
>Love,<br>Tsuna_

"That idiot..." Reborn muttered, his fedora shadowing his eyes. "He didn't have to go into hiding so soon..."

~~~~~~~.

"I can't believe it! That stupid Reborn didn't let us walk juudaime to school!" Gokudera grumbled, banging his desk.

"Maa maa, maybe he had his reasons..." Yamamoto said, trying to calm him down.

"Hmph, why is everybody in the same class again? How boring." Kurokawa Hana sighed as she entered the classroom. Behind her was Kyoko and Chrome who just smiled.

"Alright settle down students!" a loud, high-pitched voice said. The homeroom teacher strutted into class and looked around. The students got settled and there was one empty space left. Tsuna's seat.

"Ah about that! It seems that Sawada Tsunayoshi has transferred schools already-"

"WHAT?" Gokudera, Yamamoto, Chrome and Kyoko shouted in unison... Well, maybe Chrome and Kyoko didn't shout since it was more like a loud gasp. _When did that happen?_

"I said settle down! We're going to start taking attendance soon!... Hey! Keep those toy dynamites away!"

~~~~~~~.

"Ahh!" Tsuna stretched himself after a two hour train ride and left the station. Suddenly, he remembered that there was something extremely important that he had forgotten to do.

"Aaaargh! I forgot to look for a place to stay!" he whined as he scratched his head, earning strange looks from passers-by. There he was, in an unfamiliar town with no where to stay. Tsuna had to go to school the next day but he didn't even have a place to stay. _I can't just carry two bags around aimlessly! Will I have to live on the streets? Maybe running away so soon wasn't such a good idea..._

"Are you okay? " a girl asked. "You looked like you were about to die from constipation or something."  
>"Tsuna looked up and saw a girl with long, dark blue hair and amethyst coloured eyes. She had a frown on her face, causing Tsuna to flinch.<p>

"I'm... Fine, I think..." Tsuna replied, laughing nervously. _Did I really look like that?... W-Why is she glaring at me?_

She took a quick glance at the bags and deduced what had happened. "You ran away from home and you don't have a place to stay?"

"Erm... I didn't exactly run away from home... " he trailed off, eyes darting around. _Actually, I did... Oh man..._ "Okay, sort of. And yeah, I don't have anywhere to stay."

The girl sighed and rolled her eyes. "You don't look like the rebel type. In fact you look like..." she pondered for a moment before her eyes narrowed. "Sawada Tsunayoshi. Tenth boss of the Vongola."

Tsuna froze on the spot and his heart was beating wildly. _How did she know? Who is she?_

She gave a smirk and turned around. "Even if I don't kill you, the other assassins in this town will. You made a serious mistake by coming to _this_ town. I salute you if you manage to stay alive for a day here." .Not bothering about the stunned teen, she soon disappeared into the crowds.

I've been making a lot of mistakes lately, haven't I?... Tsuna whined, picking up his bags and continued to wander around.

~~~~~~~.

"Juudaime...! Why did you leave...?" Gokudera cried, banging his head on the wall. "Don't worry! I'll come and find you! I'll quit the Vongola! I'll-"

"You won't do such nonsense."

They were having lunch on the rooftop when suddenly, Reborn appeared with Hibari casually walking behind him.

"Ciaossu." Reborn greeted.

"Hey Hibari! Hey... Reborn..." Yamamoto waved, a gloomy smile on his face.

Gokudera shouted angrily at Reborn, "You knew! You knew juudaime left! Why didn't you stop him?"

"Because he had already left when I arrived. He is also not part of the Vongola anymore so I'm not his tutor. I came to inform you that a new successor has been chosen and you will be meeting him in Italy next week."

"You're an Arcobaleno damn it! Can't you do something? You can convince them to bring juudaime-"

"I'm an Arcobaleno. Not God. I've already tried to convince them but they didn't budge." Reborn sighed, pulling down his fedora. _I wanted to talk to Tsuna first before sending him away... Dame-Tsuna, you'd better watch out for the Scuro Vampa._

Hibari frowned and made his way back to the reception room. "If the herbivore says that he will do it, then he will."

Gokudera gritted his teeth and glared at the baby who was indifferent towards him. _I'm going to find juudaime, even if it kills me!_

- At home –

"Ne ne! Where's dame-Tsuna? He must play with Lambo-sama now!"

I-pin, Nana and Fuuta sat on the sofa, looking upset. Lambo didn't seem to understand that Tsuna had left and wasn't going to return anytime soon.

"Mama, Mama! Lambo wants to play! " he shouted, oblivious to the depressing atmosphere.

Nana suddenly broke into tears and ran into her room, closing the door behind her. "How could I not have noticed?... Oh Tsuna..."

- At Kokuyo –

"Oi! What's wrong with you, pyon? " Ken grumbled at Chrome who was crying.

"B-Bossu... Is g-gone!... He can't come back anymore... R-Reborn said... H-He left home!..." she muttered in between sobs.

"That Vongola Tsuna boy you admire so much?" Chikusa asked, pushing up his glasses. Chrome nodded gently and continued crying.

"Tch! You're so useless crying over that, pyon!"

_Mukuro-sama and Boss were the only ones who stood up for me... No other boss can replace him... Mukuro... Please help..._

- At Kyoko's –

"What? Tsuna-san ran away?" Kyoko exclaimed.

Haru gasped, "Hahi! Why?"

Reborn told them about Tsuna attacking an ally family and that he was no longer part of the Mafia anymore.

"Sawada ran away? No way! Real men don't run away to the extreme!" Ryohei shouted, pumping his fists in the air. "I'll bet that he'll do something awesome to the EXTREME!"

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna had been walking around town and he was getting hungry and tired. Not a single room was up for rent nor were any of the shops needing an extra helper. After circling the town for a few hours, he felt rather foolish.

"Great, just great... I must be really unlucky huh?" he mumbled to himself, looking at his Natsu ring for comfort. An almost inaudible "Gao!~" was heard, making Tsuna smile. The sky was overcast and it was threatening to rain any moment. If he didn't seek shelter soon, he would really start to curse his life. Sighing, he looked at his watch. "Argh... 4.15p.m ... And I don't have much money on me now..."

A few drops of rain pelted on Tsuna's face and he quickly picked up his bags, running to the nearest shelter. Of course, as unlucky as he was, it had started to pour before he could even reach shelter. When he had finally reached the shelter of the convenience store, he squatted down and sighed again.

_Maybe I should go home... Reborn would probably laugh at me and tease me every day about my failed attempt of leaving home..._

" You're still here? I'm surprised you didn't run back home or get killed." a familiar voice said from behind.

"It's you!" Tsuna exclaimed when he turned around to see the same girl from that morning. She looked like she had just returned from school since she was still in her uniform. "W-What are you doing here?" he asked, feeling intimidated by her usual glare.

"Food." she just said, dangling a bag of food in his face with a slight smirk. Tsuna was staring longingly at the bag when suddenly, his stomach growled loudly. He blushed furiously and turned away feeling rather embarrassed.

The girl raised an eyebrow. _Why is he so desperate?..._ She stared at the mafia boss for a few minutes. He was soaking wet and looked as if he was going to grab her food anytime. _He looks a tad too pathetic to be a boss though..._ "Hey," she said, breaking the silence.

"Y-Yes?"

"Follow me." she opened up the umbrella and tapped her feet impatiently, showing that she was waiting. Tsuna took his bags and went under the umbrella.

They walked in silence for a few minutes and they soon came to a house, much like his own in Namimori and they went inside. When he saw the interior, he was puzzled. The interior was rather bare except for a sofa, a dining table and some boxes. To be honest, it had a rather cold atmosphere.

"I live alone so you don't have to worry about being found out. You can take the room to your left. The one on the right is mine. Just ahead is the bathroom and over there is the kitchen which you can use freely... If you can cook, that is." she said in a bored tone, pointing to the various places which she had mentioned. "Oh and don't stay so close to me. Never sneak up on me from behind and don't tap me on the shoulder or anything like that. Understood?"

_Eh? But why?_ Was what he wanted to ask but decided against it, knowing that the results wouldn't be very pleasant. "Okay..." Suddenly, a set of Reisen High's male uniform was thrown in his face while he was daydreaming.

"You're going to Reisen High right? Here."

"H-How did you know?" she didn't answer and went back to her room after putting the bag of food on the table. Tsuna yawned and decided to go take a shower before eating.

_Ah! I'd better call Enma!_ Tsuna took out his phone and flinched at what he saw.

163 missed calls and 59 unread messages from Gokudera, 5 missed calls and 3 unread messages from Yamamoto, 77 missed calls from Mama, 33 missed calls and 15 unread messages from Ryohei. He sweat dropped and quickly made the call. _Sorry guys..._

"Ah Tsuna! So what happened?"

"Enma! I'm living with someone at Reshun town and I will be studying at Reisen High now..." he said, deciding to refrain from telling him his embarrassing moments in the day.

Enma let of a sigh of relief, "T-That's great, we might be able to visit you soon... Erm... How about t-the new family you wanted to start?"

"I... I don't know... I don't really have any contacts..."

"Are you sure it's okay? I mean, there's not much time..." Suddenly, the phone was snatched away yet again on the other side.

"What is the name for your new famiglia? Have you not decided yet?" Adelheid demanded.

_I haven't even found comrades yet!_ "I was thinking of the name, ' Armonia'...-"

"The Armonia Famiglia? Sounds good, keep it." the phone was then passed back to Enma.

" H-Haha... Sorry about that... She's really worried you know... This situation could get really complicated in future..." he said meekly. "I like that name too... We should go now... Keep us updated okay? Don't worry too much now; concentrate on your new life... Bye..."

"Thanks Enma... Bye..." Tsuna hung up and sighed_. It's not that easy you know..._

~~~~~~~.

"Gokudera... Are you sure about this?..." Yamamoto whispered worriedly.

"If you're such a chicken, then just go back home!" Gokudera retorted, packing the essential items into a small backpack.


	4. Search on!

**[EDITED CHAPTER: 5/12/2011] OMG DECEMBER ALREADY?**

**Sorry for the long(?) wait! My computer crashed and died so I had no way of posting or editing... I was busy with some family matters too so yeah, my wonderful excuses =_= I'll try to do weekly updates though and this time was a lucky chance where my laptop managed to start up. ANYWAY... I'd really appreciated the few reviews I had but I kinda wished there were more since this is rewritten so I would like to hear/see what you think about it XD Reviews give me the will to write on and I'm pretty sure all writers would like that!**

**Sorry if this is poorly edited since I don't know when my laptop will hang or crash (Darn PMS-ing laptop!) so it was a rush job...**

**Enjoy and REVIEW ^^**

**P.S The chapter titles are kind of random(some of them) so if there's no link... It just means I'm not using my brains~**

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Search on!<span>_**

"Gokudera... Are you sure about this?..." Yamamoto whispered worriedly.

"If you're such a chicken, then just go back home!" Gokudera retorted, packing the essential items into a small backpack.

- Flashback to after school -

"I'm going to find juudaime." Gokudera said bluntly.

"Eh? Maa, maa... I want to find him as much as you do but don't you thinks it's a little too rash? Reborn might try and find you..." Yamamoto persuaded, a sad look in his eyes. "Where are you going to find him?"

"I don't care! Let him try! I'm juudaime's right-hand man and I will never leave his side! I'll search the whole of Japan if I must!" the Storm guardian proudly proclaimed before heading home. Yamamoto gave a weak smile and followed Gokudera discreetly. _Where are you, Tsuna?_

- End of flashback-

"Don't try and stop me, yakyu-baka! I'll-"

"I won't stop you!... Just... Just bring Tsuna back okay?"

"Hmph! I don't need you to tell me that! You stay here and don't make Reborn suspicious!"

"Sure sure!" he said, patting Gokudera's shoulder.

The short-tempered guardian slung the bag over his shoulder and set off for the train station.

"Good luck, Gokudera!" Yamamoto shouted from behind, getting a grunted in return as Gokudera continued walking ahead.

~~~~~~~.

"Waaaah... Morning already?..." Tsuna mumbled as the sun shone dimly through the window. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and looked around, almost anticipating one of Reborn's torturing antics. _Oh wait, I'm not at home anymore..._ He thought to himself, a tinge of sadness in his heart.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi. It's already 7 a.m, hurry up!" the girl shouted from the kitchen.

"Eh? Okay!..." he rolled out of bed and quickly got ready. _Come to think of it, she knows me but I don't know anything about her..._

Once he was done, he went out and saw two pieces of toast on the table.

"Eat and go. I'll clear up." she said, her back facing Tsuna.

"Erm...-"

"Do I have to repeat myself, Sawada Tsunayoshi, tenth Vongola boss?"

Tsuna was feeling quite irritated at this point. _Why is she acting like has a grudge against me?_ "Why are you so against me?"

The girl paused what she was doing and turned around, glaring straight into his eyes. "You're the boss of the largest and most influential Mafia, the Vongola. And guess what? I don't exactly like the mafia so that's why I'm here in a small town and not back in Italy. The only reason that you're still alive and living here is because I took pity on you. As long as you're not found, it's fine. I don't think you can kill me but I'll be on guard anyway."

"W-What? Why would I kill you? Do I look like the type to harm an innocent person?"

"Innocent? I don't think people who know about the mafia are exactly innocent... And no, you look like a total wimp that can't even kill a fly but who knows?"

Tsuna sweat dropped. _So that's what she thinks of me?_ His train of thought was cut short abruptly by the girl rapping her fingers on the table.

"We're going to be late if you don't eat up and leave. If I'm late, you're dead." she growled. As she was making her way towards the sofa where her bag was, she tripped over air and fell face down with a 'thump'.

_Eh? Did she just-_

"Not. A. Word." she mumbled, picking herself up and running out. Tsuna quickly scoffed down the toasts and followed her, still confused at what he saw. _That certainly loosened the atmosphere and_ _at least her wake-up call is so much better than Reborn's methods..._

The walk to school was a quiet one. The girl walked ahead and Tsuna followed her, making sure he was at least two metres behind. The moment she stepped into the school grounds, the students near her started to scatter or run back to class.

_She seems like an authoritative person in here..._ Looking around, he saw some girls pointing at him and Tsuna caught little whispers about him being cute or something. _Me?..._

"Class! Please settle down! We're having a new student today!" the teacher turned to the door and said, "Come on in!"

The door slid open and entered a petite looking boy with unruly brown hair and matching chocolate brown eyes. "E-Erm... Hello... E-Everyone!... I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi, nice t-to meet you..." _Darn! Why did I stutter again?_

"Sawada-san, please sit beside Kagehane-san."

Tsuna looked around and a saw girl raising her hand and giving him a stony glare. He quickly moved over and sat down.

"I'm Kagehane Tsukiyo." she muttered, not looking at him.

"Y-You can call me Tsuna..."

Classes went by smoothly and for the first time, no one had called him Dame-Tsuna... Yet. When it was finally lunch, a classmate pulled Tsuna away to his own seat where there was a small group gathered there.

"Hey, Tsunayoshi right? Since you're new here, we'll tell you about this school so that you won't die early."

Tsuna looked puzzled and nodded nervously.

"Firstly, you should know about Reisen High's Akuma Pair. One of them is... Kagehane Tsukiyo." he said, lowering his voice when he mentioned her name. The second is a second year student, Deimos. They will get rid of anyone who is in their way or disturbing them. That's also another reason why this school is so peaceful." the student looked around hesitantly before continuing, "There were rumours about them being in the Mafia, Yakuza or maybe some underground organisation... The seat you're sitting on? It used to belong to a girl but when she annoyed Kagehane-san, she never came back to school..."

"You idiot, that's too much exaggeration. Kagehane-san broke her limbs and when she recovered, she transferred schools."

"Same thing. So Tsunayoshi, got it?"

"Yes..." _I guess she's part of the Mafia then..._ He went back to his seat and saw that she had already left.

~~~~~~~.

"Juudaime... Where are you?" Gokudera had been wondering the first town in his list all day since last evening without sleep and his precious boss was nowhere to be found. Half the town had been scorched and destroyed by the bomber's recklessly thrown dynamites. "Time to move on to the second town! Reshun town!"

~~~~~~~.

"I hope Gokudera is okay..." Yamamoto thought, looking at the two empty seats which belong to Tsuna and Gokudera. He went to the rooftop for lunch with Ryohei and within a few minutes, a small figure jumped onto Yamamoto's shoulder.

"Ciaossu." Reborn greeted.

"Hey kid!"

"Hello Reborn!" Ryohei shouted.

"Where is Gokudera?"

_Wow, he sure doesn't beat about the bush_... "He's erm... Sick! I think!" Yamamoto laughed nervously.

Reborn stared into his eyes with his own large beady ones. "You're really bad at lying aren't you."

_Ah, busted. Sorry Gokudera..._

"He went to find Tsuna didn't he?"

Yamamoto nodded grimly and looked away with a guilty expression.

"Oh well, I was about to go find him myself anyway so that saves me a lot of trouble."

The Rain guardian looked up in surprise. "You were going to find him?"

Reborn kept silent and jumped off his shoulder. "Remember, we're going to Italy in two days' time. Gokudera must come back by then." Reborn soon disappeared into one of his secret hideouts.

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna walked down the corridor and sighed. _Akuma pair huh? They seem like Reisen High's own version of Hibari... I wonder if they can help me..._ Suddenly, Tsuna was roughly pulled into a dimly-lit room and he heard the door close and lock with a click.

"You mean THAT'S the tenth Vongola boss? You've got to be kidding me. That squirt is a Mafia Boss? Pranks can only go so far you know, Tsukiyo!"

"I kid you not."

Tsuna looked up and saw a tall, dark blue eyed, raven haired male. His hair was tousled and his tie on his uniform was loose. He wasn't showing much on his face but his aura was definitely just as scary as Hibari. He turned his head and saw Tsukiyo at the door.

"Wh-Why am I here?..." Tsuna asked.

"Why are _you_ here? Shouldn't you be in Namimori with your guardians and your tutor? What is the Vongola planning? Are they trying to bring down the mafia world? I heard some famiglias are preparing something and the Vongola is involved."

Okay, hold it just one moment! Everything was just way too fast for Tsuna. "Erm... I ran away because I was stripped of my position as the tenth..." _Should I really be telling them this?_ "So you see, I'm not really much of a threat or anything... I don't know what's going on now…" he persuaded, hoping that they would drop the matter and cease the stupid interrogation which was in a cramped and musty storeroom.

The Akuma pair glanced at each other then back to the ex-boss.

"Have we told you that we're assassins who can rip your limbs apart without feeling guilty?" Tsukiyo said, maneuvering her way towards Deimos. Suddenly, she tripped again and fell onto the ground.

_Eh? I was expecting them to be members of a family but assassins?.. I had some doubts about Tsukiyo being an assassin but this just further confirms it..._

"I know what you're thinking! Don't you dare say it!" she hissed, her voice cracking just a little.

"Ignore her." Deimos said in a bored tone, pulling her up by the collar and ignoring the colourful expletives from her mouth. "She's not very good at being a normal person... Was what you said true? So who's the current boss now?"

"The Ninth is still in charge but... I don't know much now... Hey, can I ask for a favor from both of you?"

"What?" they both said in unison.

"Please... Help me build up a family... I need to get back my position as the tenth Vongola boss and stop the Scuro Vampa family! They're-"

"The Scuro Vampa?..." Tsukiyo interrupted. "I've heard rumours about them creating a powerful weapon... I'm not sure about their goal but..."

"We don't trust you. We don't trust anyone from the Mafia. What makes you an exception from the others other than your wimpy looks?"

_This is tougher than I thought..._ "I know... But you can trust me! You guys don't trust people because of your childhood right?..."

Deimos immediately stood up and grabbed Tsuna's collar. "You did some background checks on us?"

"I-I didn't!" Tsuna assured, waving his arms frantically. "I just had a feeling...! Hyper Intuition I guess..."

"The Scuro Vampa huh?... Then count me in."

"What? Hey!" he shouted, dropping Tsuna.

"Don't you remember what the Scuro Vampa did?... That incident?... Anyway, Tsuna here isn't really that bad I guess... I did background checks on him and his guardians... They're pretty clean. Besides, he'll be useful and it might be a win-win situation. We help him get his position back, he helps us with our revenge, and tadah! We'll be satisfied!... Provided that _he_ doesn't double-cross us."

Deimos turned and looked at Tsuna who was adjusting his uniform. He didn't look one bit like a boss at all, in fact, no one would guess that he's even part of the Mafia if you threw him into a crowd full of normal people. He didn't seem like the type to ruthlessly kill someone or trick people.

"I promise that I will not hurt you... You'll be my friends... My comrades... You don't have to keep up the facade that you have built up anymore... I'm sure that both of you are not happy..." Tsuna said softly, his hand reaching out.

Deimos hesitated for a moment before shaking it. "Scrap the friend part. We can survive by ourselves without these 'friends'. "

Tsuna looked rather puzzled for a while. "Aren't you and Tsukiyo, friends?"

" Er… That… That's a different story altogether! Anyway, how are you going to set up your family?"

Silence.

… More silence as they looked at one another with blank faces.

"I don't know..." he said, meekly.

"What? Hey squirt! You want to set up a family but you don't know how?"

"Someone might know..." Tsukiyo said with a smirk. "Let's get back to class, lunch is almost over. Don't fail your probation period, 'kay Tsuna?"

"Oh, oka - WAIT! What probation period? H-Hey!

~~~~~~~.

"Juudaime... Where are you?..." he mumbled, tired from walking for more than 24 hours straight.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he quickly answered it. "What?"

"Gokudera! Reborn found out about it almost immediately..."

"What? Yakyu-baka! Can't you even-"

"Hold it hold it! He was fine with it but you have to be back in two days!"

"But I'm only at the second town!"

"Haha… Erm… Just do your best! Bye!"

_Idiot._ He hung up and sat on a bench. _Maybe I can take a few minutes to rest before searching for juudaime..._ Of course, within a few seconds, he was fast asleep.

~~~~~~~.

"Erm... Tsukiyo?" Tsuna asked.

"Yes?"

"How do I set up a family?"

Tsukiyo closed her laptop and turned to face Tsuna. "I think you have to register or something. Aaron should know how to do it."

"Eh? Who's that?"

She gave a smirk before heading back to her room. "Goodnight."

Tsuna sighed and went back to his room too. _Maybe I should call Enma... Tomorrow… _Tsuna yawned as he fell asleep.

- The next morning –

"Tsuna! Get up!"

"Hm... Five more minutes..." Tsuna mumbled, pulling the blanket over his head. Tsukiyo sighed and tapped her foot impatiently.

"Tsuna!" Tsukiyo reiterated, staring down at the sleeping body of Tsuna. No reaction_. Hmph, looks like I have to do this huh?_ Tsukiyo strolled back to her room and took out a gun from her drawer. Strolling back to Tsuna's room, she put the gun to his head, the cold steel barrel in contact with his skin and cocked it, making it go 'click' . In a millisecond, he jumped out of bed, screaming for Reborn to not shoot him as he got dressed and prepared, maneuvering through his mess in a record time of three minutes. Tsukiyo was impressed by his speed and dexterity when put under pressure and made a mental note to do it more often.

Suddenly, Tsuna snapped out of his madness and stopped in his tracks. _Wait a minute, Reborn's not here anymore! So who-_ "Tsukiyo?" he yelled as he caught sight of a silver revolver in her hand. "What are you doing? It's only 7 a.m! And it's a Saturday!"

"Hmph, you think you can stay here for free? I expect some payment or help. You're going out with me to do some grocery shopping and some other things." Tsuna groaned and quickly got ready.

"First off, breakfast!" she cheered as they walked down the street to a nearby cafe.

_Ling ling!_ The little bells hanging on the door chimed as she pushed open the door of the cafe and sat down at a corner seat. Tsuna sat opposite her and looked around. The cafe was small but cozy. Its walls were painted a lavender colour and had a nice, warm atmosphere like a home.

"A very good morning to Tsukiyo and your friend, having the usual?" a waiter said, placing a menu in front of Tsuna. He looked up and saw the blonde haired waiter. He had light blue eyes and his hair was neat and looked slightly overgrown.

"Yeah, hey Tsuna, what do you want to eat?" Tsukiyo asked, tapping on the menu.

"Ah, erm... Whatever you're having?"

"Alright." the waiter said, picking up the menu and turning to leave. After he was out of sight, Tsukiyo whispered, "That's Aaron, he owns this cafe. He practically does everything and I mean everything, by himself. He cooks, cleans, and mans this shop. He studies in Reisen College, first year."

"Hheeeh? What if the cafe is busy and what about school?"

"Oh he'll manage." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "He always does. He only opens the cafe when classes end. Did you know? He's the best swordsman in England."

"W-Wow, really?... " _That's really something...Maybe he-_

"Here is your breakfast, enjoy." Aaron said as he brought out the food on a silver tray.

"Thanks!" they both said as they dug in.

"Ah yes, this is for you." Aaron said, putting a white envelope on the table.

"Another one?..." she grumbled, picking it up and examining it.

Tsuna glanced up from his food, "What's that?"

"A request."

"O-Oh..."

"Judging from the decor of the envelope and the quality of the paper..." she said, fingering the letter with a look of distaste, "it's probably a waste of time." she stuffed the envelope in her pocket and resumed her meal.

"He knows about it?" Aaron said, lowering his voice.

"Yeah, he's even part of it too."

The blonde man eyed Tsuna with an amused expression. "Are you sure? He doesn't seem... Well, dangerous."

Tsukiyo almost choked on her food while laughing and quickly downed a glass of water. "Pfft. Yeah. You'll know soon enough."

Tsuna was confused. _What are they talking about?..._

"Ah, how rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Aaron, nice to meet you."

"M-My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi... Erm... Nice to meet you too..."

"Oh yeah, Aaron? Do you know how to set up a family?"

"Yes, of course. I'm the best informant after all. Who wants to set up?"

Tsukiyo pointed to Tsuna who gave a nervous smile.

"... Okay. Follow me." They went to the back of the shop and in fifteen minutes, they were out.

"So what did you do?" Tsukiyo asked, finishing the last bite of her meal.

"I had to fill in some details and get it approved. He said it should be done within a week..." _If nothing happens within that week..._ "He seems like a really nice person..." Tsuna whispered, leaning forward.

"Yeah but make him angry, no one will survive to see the end of it." she smirked, watching as Tsuna's face turned pale. "Time to go! See ya, Aaron!" she shouted, dragging Tsuna out. "Come on! We're going to the supermarket!"

After the grocery shopping, they were on their way back when they came face to face with a silver-haired teen.


	5. A new boss, to like or to hate?

**Thank you for your reviews from the previous chapter! :D Keep 'em coming! Oh yeah, I edited chapter 4 a little and there are minor changes but it's fine if you don't want to see it since it won't affect the plotline or anything ^^ Just felt that it kinda sucked so I just HAD to do something about it LOL.**

**Enjoy and review this chapter! :3**

* * *

><p><em><strong>A new boss, to like or to hate?<strong>_

Tsukiyo and Tsuna stood in front of a tired looking teen, a backpack slung over his shoulder.

"Oh boy," Tsukiyo grumbled.

"Ju-Judaime?..." he acknowledged hesitantly, not able to believe his eyes.

Tsuna's eyes widened. "Gokudera? Wh-What are you doing here? What happened to you?" Tsuna dropped the groceries he was carrying and ran towards his malnourished and lethargic Storm guardian.

"Juudaime! Juudaime!" imaginary tears started streaming from his eyes. "I've finally found you! Let's go back and trash the new boss! We can-"

"Wh-What? No! We can't do that! And I most certainly can't go back for now!"

Gokudera was on his knees kowtowing to his boss when he caught sight of Tsukiyo and quickly got up, his arms outstretched in front of Tsuna.

"You! What are you doing here? Are you kidnapping juudaime?" he growled, taking out his dynamites.

"Gokudera, wait! She didn't kidnap me! I'm living with her for the time being! Put the dynamites away!" Tsuna yelped, pulling him back.

"But she's an assassin! She's known as Decesso in Italy! You can't trust her!"

Tsukiyo yawned. "That's in Italy. This is Japan. Get real."

"You little-"

"Gokudera!" I can't believe how this is turning out… Tsuna thought, mentally face-palming himself. "Erm Tsukiyo? Can he come over-"

"Absolutely not. I'm not about to let a Vongola guardian into my home."

"But he's-"

"I don't care if he's your friend, comrade, guardian, or servant. He's from the Vongola! He could spill our location!"

"We can trust him-"

"YOU can trust him! I can't and I won't! If you're going to talk, do it somewhere else! Not at home. You can go to the park over there." Tsukiyo pointed in the direction behind them.

Meanwhile, Gokudera was in the midst of glaring at Tsukiyo, hands itching to reach into his pockets where he kept his trusty companions, his dynamites. _How dare she talk to juudaime in that rude manner! Just because he's not the boss of the Vongola anymore, doesn't mean he can be a pushover!_

They soon made their way towards a park and sat down on a bench in an isolated corner of the park.

"So please keep this a secret... Only you know this..." Tsuna pleaded after explaining the situation.

"If juudaime says so... Then okay." he sulked. _How can that stupid girl get so close to juudaime! What if she decides to betray him? I won't be there to protect juudaime!_

"If you understand, please go back to Namimori now... I really don't want to be found out..."

"Okay… Are you sure?" the Storm guardian asked, desperately.

"Gokudera!" Tsuna firmly said with a pout.

"Y-Yes, juudaime..." as he walked out of the park, towards the train station. He suddenly turned around, a pleading look in his eyes. "Are you sure you can't come-"

"No, Gokudera. I have to do this on my own!... I won't implicate you guys... Not after all we've been through!"

Gokudera's shoulders slumped, looking quite resigned. "I-I have failed... As juudaime's... Right-hand man..."

Tsuna face palmed himself inwardly. "Gokudera... You're doing me a very big favor that no one else except my _right-hand man_ can do! Okay? Now go, go."

Gokudera's eyes sparkled as he ran off. "Yes juudaime! I'll do my best!"

The ex-boss sighed as he closed the door. _Finally..._

"You know what he reminds me of? A loyal puppy." she said, snickering at a mental image.

"... " Tsuna had nothing to say as he went back to his room and fell onto his bed, picking up his phone and dialing Enma's number.

"Tsuna! Finally!"

"W-What's wrong?" _This can't be good..._

"Have you set up the family yet?" Enma asked with an urgent tone.

"The Family will be official soon once the Vindice have accepted it... Is something wrong?"

"I heard news that the Scuro Vampa Family wants you to be punished more severely and has ordered his men to find you! They're searching through Namimori now and they're heading towards Reshun! You have to hide now!". As usual, the phone was snatched from the poor redhead once again by the domineering and only woman of the Shimon. "Sawada Tsunayoshi! The rules say that if you are in another family, you have every right to resist the capture of another family..."

_Is that really a rule?_

"Tsunayoshi! Are you listening?"

"Y-Yes mam'!"

"As I was saying, since your family is not official yet, I suggest that you join another for the time being but definitely not the Shimon since the Vongola would know immediately."

"I-I don't think that's necessary... I'll think about it... I'll contact you guys later..." Tsuna said wearily, hanging up and dropping to the bed.

"So, the other family is coming for you huh?" a voice said, scaring the daylights out of Tsuna.

"Tsu-Tsukiyo! You were eavesdropping?" he shouted, feeling a little angry at the lack of privacy. So what if he was on probation? It doesn't give anyone the right to invade another person's privacy!

"Me? Eavesdrop? I don't use such underhanded means to get information okay! You and your friend were practically shouting over the damned phone! I'll bet the neighbours could hear you!" she huffed, turning leave.

There was a pang of guilt when he heard her and quickly called out, "Tsukiyo wait! I'm sorry... I was just-"

"Frustrated, yes. I understand. For the next few days, just stick close to me and you'll be fine. Trust me."

~~~~~~~.

"Hey Gokudera! Welcome back! Did you find Tsuna?" Yamamoto greeted cheerfully, patting the Storm guardian's shoulder.

"He didn't want to come back. Juudaime said that he had a plan." he sulked, shrugging off the hand.

"Oh, a plan? That's great!... Right? Anyway, Reborn told us to meet at the airport tomorrow 'kay? Don't be late! Don't worry about Tsuna! He's strong now! He'll make things right! We have to have faith in him!"

"Are you done with your stupid pep talk? I already know all that and more, yakyu-baka."

"Alright, alright, see you tomorrow!" he said, waving to a grumpy Gokudera. I know you care a lot about Tsuna... I'm sure he'll do us proud! As his guardians, we'll surely work hard!

~~~~~~~.

"What am I going to do? There are people after me! I can't go out!" Tsuna said frantically, rushing to close the windows and draw the curtains.

Tsukiyo sighed as she munched on her breakfast slowly. "I told you to trust me, didn't I? Just do whatever you usually do, except just don't stay too far away from me."

But what has that got to do with anything?... "You're not going to kill the Mafioso are you?"

"Of course not. That would attract too much attention to this town. I still want to live here with Deimos and the rest." Tsukiyo washed up and picked up her bag. "Let's go."

Tsuna followed Tsukiyo closely, looking around for any suspicious beings. After a while, he began to relax since it was pretty tiring to stay on his guard all the time. Suddenly, he caught sight of some men dressed in suits with their shades on. To Tsuna, it was an obvious characteristic of 'Very Suspicious People'. _They're here!_ The men started walking towards them and Tsuna was about to turn tail when Tsukiyo grabbed him by his sleeve.

"I don't like to repeat myself." she hissed, pulling him back. The men ran past him as if he was completely invisible.

"Ehh? W-What just happened?" Tsuna looked down at himself and waved his arms in front of him. "I'm not invisible either..."

Tsukiyo stifled her laughter and continued walking on.

"W-Wait for me!..."

For the rest of the day, they were completely disregarded by the Scuro Vampa mafioso and Tsuna heaved a sigh of relief. "I'm glad that's over for now..."

"Yeah but who knows if they'll be back? They have a pretty cunning boss, according to Aaron's sources."

"Eh... I'm sure we can handle it..."

"You said 'we'."

"Huh? Yeah, we're a family now right? We should work together!"

"Family huh?... That's nice... Gah, whatever." she mumbled, walking ahead.

~~~~~~~.

"I wonder what our new boss is like... I have an uneasy feeling about it..." Yamamoto wondered out loud, causing the other guardians in the Vongola's private jet to quiet down. They had been told that the new tenth boss had been selected and were ordered to forget about Sawada Tsunayoshi who had disappeared almost immediately after he was dropped from his position.

"How could we ever forget about him...?" Yamamoto sighed, his head leaning against the window.

"I will never acknowledge anyone else as juudaime! NEVER!"

"Wahahaha! Will he play with Lambo-sama?"

"B-Bossu... Mukuro-sama says that the new boss might not be worthy of his possession..."

"Where is Sawada to the extreme? He didn't pick up my calls!"

"Hn, how boring. I'm not interested in weak herbivores."

The plane touched down and they reluctantly made their way to the Vongola mansion. They were soon led to a room with a large table and their new boss sitting at one end.

"Hello, my name is Ryumin Kyohei and I am the new Tenth boss of the Vongola."


	6. New Family?

_**New Family?**_

"Hello, my name is Ryumin Kyohei and I am the new Tenth boss of the Vongola. You must be my new guardians, am I right? " he smiled, fingering the Vongola Sky ring on his slim finger. However, that smile looked rather forced. He looked about their age and he wore an expensive looking suit which he straightened every few minutes.

The guardians were apprehensive and looked at each other with uncertainty. Yamamoto as usual, was the first one to break the ice.

"Hi Ryumin-san! Nice to meet you!"

"You can only call me either Ryumin-sama, boss or Tenth. I will not accept anything else."

_What? What? That bloody twit!_ Gokudera's vein popped and was about to lunge at him if not for Ryohei and Yamamoto holding him back. "Who do you think you are? Why would we call you that?"

"Because I am the tenth Vongola boss so you should have the utmost respect for me of course." he said calmly and with a hint of arrogance.

Hibari narrowed his eyes. _This herbivore is uninteresting_, he thought, turning to leave.

"Hibari Kyoya, I did not remember allowing you to leave. Stay."

"I don't take orders from a herbivore. You know what? I'll just bite you to death." Hibari smirked, taking out his tonfas.

"Hibari." a familiar squeaky voice called out. Reborn jumped in front of them from behind, blocking their way. "You are not to hurt Ryumin Kyohei in any way or else you will face the wrath of the Vongola."

"Akanbo." Hibari acknowledged, putting away his tonfas. _I'll just have to find a convenient time to do it. That omnivore had better get on with his plan._

"I will speak to you guardians privately later. Go to the lounge now." Reborn ordered.

Gokudera muttered curses under his breath and made his way out, followed by the others.

~~~~~~~.

"I hate that bastard!" Gokudera shouted angrily the moment they entered the lounge.

"That boss is extremely arrogant!" Ryohei yelled, sitting down on the sofa with a heavy plop.

Chrome looked worried and bit her lower lip, tightening her grip on Lambo. "He doesn't seem like a nice person..."

Hibari stood in a corner, leaning against the pale, beige walls, frowning.

"Maa maa, maybe he's in a bad mood, that's all!" Yamamoto assured, trying to ease the tension. Even though he said it with a smile, he was quite unsure himself. _Tsuna would never force us to call him anything..._

Suddenly, the door flew open and shut as fast as it had opened. "What do you think of your new boss?" Reborn asked, his face void of expression.

Much displeased sounds echoed the room and it came from mainly the Storm and Sun guardians. Reborn shook his head. "We didn't have much choice; the other candidates were either assassinated or vanished completely. His Sky flame is rather weak but all of you had better start respecting him as the boss now, regardless of your disapproval."

" Hmph, weak flame? He can't replace juudaime! Juudaime is way better that asshole! How can such a person be the tenth?"

There was a minute of silence before a small voice spoke, "I-If we clear Boss' n-name... He can return?" Everyone turned their hopeful heads to Chrome. Noticing the sudden attention, she found something very interesting to look at on the floor.

"Yes." Reborn answered. However, when the others brightened up, he burst their bubble by saying, "However, as members of an ally family, we are very restricted so you can't do very much." Gokudera mumbled something incomprehensible again, his fists clenched so tightly that it had gone white. _Juudaime... I hope your plan works!... No wait, it will work! I have faith in you!_

~~~~~~~.

"Hey Tsuna, time to discuss our plans." Tsukiyo said.

"What plans?" came the reply as Tsuna looked up from the files he was reading.

"Obviously our escape routes and things like that! What if the Scuro Vampa attacked us right now?"

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Tsukiyo got up from the comforts of the sofa and opened it. Deimos and Aaron entered and made themselves comfortable.

"Hey squirt."

"Hello, Tsunayoshi."

"Erm... Hi..." _wait... Squirt?_

"Let's continue with the planning! What do we do if we're attacked by the Scuro Vampa?" Tsukiyo said, sitting down.

"We run out and dash straight towards wherever we're meeting, silencing anyone on the way while dodging little metal pellets!" Deimos shouted, giving a victorious smirk.

_W-What? Little metal pellets?..._ Tsuna's eye twitched at the statement.

"... Idiot. We'll all be like swiss cheese by then. Use your brains for once will you? And silencing them? Please, don't make me laugh. You'd would be the noisiest one among us." Aaron retorted as he kept a calm expression, ignoring the teen's glare. "We can escape through this alley here and move there, turning right over here and going straight till here before making a left turn. After that we'll have to go through this place and make a right turn there before heading there." he said, showing the path on a map.

"Ah! Then we can turn here and escape through the secret passageways under the bridge! As expected of the strategist!"

"Ahaha, it was nothing."

Okay, from Tsuna's point of view, it looked they were just sliding their fingers all over the map and pointing here and there. Whatever they had just explained definitely did not go into his head.

"You didn't get that did you?" Deimos said, bringing his voice down to a whisper. Tsuna shook his head and looked down.

"Well, me neither. I still think the dashing through the enemy and killing them was a pretty good and cool idea."

Tsuna sweat dropped. _I'm not too sure about that..._ Aaron rubbed his temples and sighed in exasperation. "Deimos, do control your recklessness..."

They soon left after a few hours of supposed tedious discussion and Tsuna went back to his room to find something.

"Erm... Tsukiyo?..." Tsuna asked, fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

"Hm?"

"Can you give my mother a letter?... It's been a while and I don't know how she's-"

"Okay, do you have it now? I'll go today."

"Eh? Really?" Tsuna fished around in his pocket and produced a white envelope out of it. "Thanks... You have no idea how much this means to me..."

"I have some things to do anyway. I'll be going now, see you later." Tsukiyo turned on the ball of her heel and left. Tsuna went back to his room and called Enma.

"Tsuna! How's everything?"

Tsuna smiled at the cheerful greeting. Enma always made him smile, regardless of what he ever did. "It's fine I guess... We just talked about an escape route if the Scuro Vampa came back for me."

"A-Ah I see... We should meet up one of these days and discuss about the Famiglia and plans on how to clear your name too..."

Tsuna sighed, "Oh yeah... I almost forgot why I came here in the first place... Erm... I have to go now, I have a lot of homework... "

"Okay, take care!"

The brunette fell onto his bed and closed his eyes. _How do I clear my name?... I barely know anything about the Scuro Vampa!_

- Outside –

_Somehow, I feel like a postman right now._ Tsukiyo thought, fingering the envelope. She got on the train and found a seat by the window. _Two hours to go..._

~~~~~~~.

"B-Boss, we've searched everywhere but Sawada Tsunayoshi's whereabouts are still u-unknown..." one of the mafiosos said timidly.

"Imbeciles!" he shouted, slamming his oak desk with such force that made everyone in the room flinch. "Didn't we get a tipoff that he was in Reshun? I told you to search it more thoroughly!"

"W-We did, s-sir... We had the w-whole town s-surrounded...-"

"And you still couldn't find him? Useless nitwits! I already have Dovianni and my son in the Vongola so why can't you just do a simple task like this? He's just a kid! Not some fucking well-trained spy! I don't want fifteen years worth of research and experimenting to go down the drain because of a brat like that, do you understand?"

"S-Sir, there are at least f-four assassins i-in that t-town... Maybe they f-found out his i-identity and g-got rid of him!..." a brave one said.

"That had better be the case! How hard can it be to find that brat? Hmph, get out now and don't ever come back!"

"B-But sir! W-We have f-fami-"

"My work is worth more than all of your lives so suck it up!" Lorenzo paused for a while and gave a hidden smirk. "You know what? I'll give you a second chance. You fail again, and the consequences will be much worse. Got that?"

"Y-Yes sir! Thank you very much!" they said in unison. Many left the room with tears in their eyes and some jumped for joy. When the door shut with a soft click, Lorenzo burst out laughing. "After all, there aren't enough sacrifices for my wonderful work! I really need some guinea pigs!"

~~~~~~~.

"Hey, stop it! Get off me you snotty brat!" Kyohei shouted, trying to shake off a wailing Lambo who was holding on to his sleeve very tightly.

"Kyoh- Boss, please stop, you're making Lambo cry even more..." Yamamoto said, prying Lambo away.

"Tch, why would anyone appoint a sniveling brat as a guardian anyway? Is that ex-boss a fool?" he grumbled, dusting away some imaginary specks of dust off his very expensive Armani suit. Yamamoto's eyes narrowed dangerously. _No one talks about Tsuna like that._

"Waaaaah! Dame-Tsuna would carry me! Lambo-sama doesn't like you!"

"Are you blind? I'm not that useless Tsuna! Go find some other idiot to pester and leave me alone! I have a job to do!" Kyohei turned and walked off swiftly to his office, slamming the door behind him.

Yamamoto frowned. Picking up Lambo, he handed the child a grape-flavoured candy and tried to cajole him. "I-I want Tsuna..." he sniffed.

"All of us do..." Yamamoto said with a sad smile as they went back to their rooms.

"These are the most extreme three days of my life!" Ryohei yelled, punching the wall, causing some plaster to crumble.

"Shut up turf-head! No one likes that asshole anyway!" finally Gokudera and Ryohei had something that they agreed on. The double doors swung open and Lambo came running in, followed by Yamamoto.

"Oi, Yakyu-baka! Where did that cow brat run off to?"

Yamamoto sat down and sighed; something he rarely did. "Lambo had a nightmare and ran out looking for Tsuna... That Ryumin Kyohei pushed him away so roughly that I almost wanted to hit him... He even insulted Tsuna."

" Well you should have! How dare that son of a bitch insult juudaime! I would have killed him if it weren't for my promise to juudaime!"

Hibari opened an eye and glared at the crowd but kept silent. _When is that herbivore going to act out his so-called plan?_ When the noise had finally died down, he spoke. "That herbivore is weak. Weaker than that Tsunayoshi."

Chrome nodded in agreement. "Mukuro-sama says that he has a weak resolution and he is not worth possessing... I-I also heard that... He will never r-release Mukuro-sama from the Vindice..." Chrome said in a small voice, almost as if she was on the verge of tears.

Yamamoto quickly sat beside her and patted her back. "Don't cry! We'll do something..."

"We should just overthrow him!" Gokudera growled.

"Do that and no one will live to see tomorrow." Everyone turned and saw Reborn at the door with a serious expression.

"R-Reborn..." Gokudera stuttered, stepping back. Even the smoking bomber himself didn't want to face the wrath of Reborn, the greatest hitman ever.

"Oh? Planning to overthrow me?" Kyohei said with venom dripping in his words. "My, my, how could my own guardians want to overthrow their boss? Looks like we'll have to keep a close eye on all of you... This means no snooping around to help your ex-boss! Who knows what you might do! Heh!"

"What? You little fuc-" Ryohei quickly covered Gokudera's mouth and held him back before he could complete his sentence and take out his dynamites.

Kyohei smirked. "To think that even _my_ own right-hand man would try to harm me~"

" I'm not your right-hand man! I belong to only juudaime!-" suddenly he kept silent when Reborn's hard, black eyes stared into his, telling him to keep his mouth shut which the Storm guardian reluctantly complied, not wanting to die in the hands of the world's best hitman.

"You'll be returning to Japan tomorrow while Ryumin will stay here as the boss since he has completed his education much faster than all of you even though you guys are the same age. One last thing, the Scuro Vampa family are going to hunt Tsuna down..." the Arcobaleno said with a hint of anger and bitterness in his words. "Go back to your rooms and rest. You'll need it." The guardians walked out and passed Ryumin Kyohei who had a smug look plastered on his face.

"I'll wipe that smile off your face someday." Gokudera muttered, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey readers! Decided to upload this chapter earlier since my computer FINALLY worked... =_= I got tired of using the iPhone screen to read fanfics and now it seems I'm hooked on Twitter... Two months ago, I was like "Twitter sucks! Why would I go on? " Today, I'm stalking my friends, posting statuses about animemanga which my friends don't understand (poor unfortunate souls who do not watch anime or read manga :/), and more stalking...**

**ANYWAY, I wanna ask you guys something :D Do you want the OCs to remain or leave? If they remain, they won't appear so much. If they leave... Yeah, they'll leave.**

**Thanks for reading and please please pleaaaaaseeeeee_ REVIEW!_** **I really want to hear your opinions or comments about this story!**

**... The underline function on fanfiction still isn't working (for me)! Gr.**

**REVIEW PLEASE!  
><strong>


	7. End of the beginning,towards the future!

**Early update since I finally got my hands on a computer! MANY THANKS TO MY REVIEWERS! Reading them made me so happy and eager to get the next chapter out! I even had nice, long (and very interesting) chats with two of them! I replied to almost all of you, with the exception of one or two because I didn't have anything to reply except for "Thank you" lol. Do continue to review to feed my mind!**

* * *

><p><strong><em>The end of the beginning, towards the future!<em>**

"Wow, Tsuna has a pretty nice place." Tsukiyo mumbled to herself as she stood in front of the gate. "Hm, no sign of Reborn and the guardians so it should be safe. I hope. I'm not going to deal with them if I encounter them." she opened the gate gently and knocked on the door.

"Ara? Hello! Who might you be?" Sawada Nana asked. She looked a little haggard, probably from worrying about Tsuna and her eyes were dull and lifeless even though she was smiling.

"Hello, Sawada-san, you don't have to know who I am but I'm Tsuna's classmate and I have a letter for you." Nana's eyes widened and she quickly ushered Tsukiyo in. A letter was pushed into her hands and Nana opened it hastily, a hopeful look on her face.

A tear trickled down her cheek as she read it and gave a weak smile. "Tsu-kun is certainly growing up! To think he would ever talk about responsibility! Are you sure he won't be coming back for a long time?" Tsukiyo nodded grimly. Nana patted her on her head and smiled. "I guess he's becoming more and more like his father now... Thank you so much for taking care of Tsuna, please keep me updated won't you?"

"Of course. Don't worry about him, he has friends to help him and he'll come and see you soon, I promise." Tsukiyo said confidently. "Why don't you write a reply?"

"Ah yes!" she ran into her room and got out a piece of paper. When she was done writing, she folded it and handed it to Tsukiyo. "One last thing," Nana said as Tsukiyo was about to leave. "Tell Tsu-kun that mama loves him no matter what he does!"

Tsukiyo laughed and nodded, "Of course!"

~~~~~~~.

"Hey Tsuna, I'm back." Tsukiyo called out as she entered the once humdrum house.

"Tsukiyo! What did my mum say?" Tsuna said excitedly.

Tsukiyo dug into her pocket and handed him a piece of paper. Tsuna read it and smiled. "Oh your mum asked me to tell you this," She made her hands to look like a shape of a heart and mimicked Nana's voice, "Mama loves you no matter what you do!"

Tsuna's jaw fell to the ground as he sweat dropped, his face turning red. Mama! How could you embarrass me like that? And with Tsukiyo doing it, it's just weird!

"What? I thought it was a pretty good imitation!" she pouted. "Anyway, you have a really nice mother you know?"

"Erm... Thanks?" he managed to say after being speechless for a while.

"No problem... Hey Tsuna... I was just thinking... Since you're the first boss of the Armonia family... Wouldn't that make you Primo now?" Tsukiyo spoke her thoughts out loud, looking out of the window at the clear blue sky. That sentence made Tsuna wonder as well.

"Primo? Eh? Wait, that's true... And kind of cool!..."

"Cool eh? So should I call you primo? Haha!" she teased, watching Tsuna get all flustered.

"N-No way! I'm too used to associating Primo the the first Vongola boss so it's pretty weird if someone calls me Primo!"

"First generation Vongola huh?..." Tsukiyo mumbled, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. _I have to find the truth or else I'll never rest in peace…_

"Did you say something?" No response came as she was lost in her own thoughts. _I wished they would open up soon…_

~~~~~~~.

"Oi,get up!" Tsukiyo shouted, jabbing the lump under the blanket.

"Hmm... Mama is making pancakes... Oi... Lambo... Don't take... My share..." Tsuna mumbled and pulled the blanket over his head, leaving a small tuft of brown sticking out.

Cue facepalm from Tsukiyo. She leaned towards his ear and whispered, "Look, Bianchi is cooking too! Are those her pancakes that you're about to eat?..."

"NOOOOOO! Not her poison cooking!" Tsuna shouted, sitting up abruptly which caused their heads to collide with a resounding bang. "ITAI!"

"Ouch! What the hell!" she cursed as she staggered backwards to lean against the wall, rubbing the sore spot on her forehead. "If this leaves a mark, I'll make a permanent one on you." she hissed, causing Tsuna to shrink back in fear.

"O-Okay... Erm... Why did you wake me up?"

"Oh, Aaron just told me that the Scuro Vampa is back and is trashing the town right now." she said calmly. No sooner had she said that, an explosion was hears not far off.

A moment of silence...

…

…

"EEEEEEEHHHHH? Why didn't you say so earlier?" Tsuna jumped out of bed and got ready within three minutes. He slipped on his Natsu ring and packed his bag, bringing only the essentials. "Erm… What about school? Don't we-"

"We kind of knew that our quiet life would be disrupted sooner or later. Anyway, it's better if we move now. The sooner we get our revenge the better."

Tsuna bit his lower lip as his packing slowed down.

_Sigh_. "… And help you get your position back."

The ex-boss smiled a little, resuming his packing speed.

"Let's go. We're escaping through the alleyway that Aaron talked about yesterday." she said, running out of the house with Tsuna hot on her heels.

"Erm... You do know that I didn't understand any part of it?"

"Sure I do! I didn't get it either!" she said in a joking tone.

"What?-"

"Just kidding. It's just so fun to tease you sometimes!" _So naïve and innocent. I really wonder how you can still be the Tenth…_

They ran into the alley, making multiple and confusing turns to distract the enemy. At one point, Tsuna tripped over some trash and almost pushed Tsukiyo down.

"Woah there! Hurry up! They're already catching up to us! Let's go!" she whispered. She grabbed Tsuna's hand and continued running through the dark alley. The Scuro Vampa hadn't reached them yet and another explosion seemed to have come from behind. They managed to avoid most of the mafioso who were dumb enough to not notice them.

"There he is! Sawada Tsunayoshi!" a mafioso shouted, pointing in the group's direction.

Whoops, spoke too soon.

"Heeeeeh? Why did he notice me?"

"It's your hair," Tsukiyo deadpanned. "It sticks out too much. That was how I noticed you when you first came."

Tsuna's jaw dropped. "I can't believe it... Isn't your blue hair more obvious?..."

They went through a few more twists and turns before arriving at the bridge. Tsukiyo opened a hatch and hurried him inside before entering it herself and locking it behind her.

"You're finally here! Took 'ya long enough." Deimos grumbled.

Aaron looked at his wristwatch. "I've already called for a plane and it will take us to Italy."

"Okay erm... Left is the airport! Let's go!-"

"Wait!" Tsuna interrupted, his fists clenched tightly into a ball. "I-I can't go...! My... My friends and family are still in Namimori! I can't just leave for Italy like that! Who knows when I'll come back!"

"We can't. You'll be hunted down by the Scuro Vampa! Isn't that worse?" Tsukiyo reasoned, tugging Tsuna's arm. The brunette didn't budge and his eyes were fearful yet determined. This could be his last chance to see his friends till everything was cleared and who knows when it would end. It was now or never.

"Stop wasting time! We'll all be dead if you don't make a decision! Famiglia should stick together right? So as the damn boss, do something! We have our own goals too so don't get selfish on us." Deimos growled. His patience was wearing thin with Tsuna's indecisive mind.

Tsuna on the other hand, was torn between his friends and his new famiglia that would help him get back to his rightful position (Even though he still denies it relentlessly).

Aaron stole another furtive glance at his watch and said gravely but calmly, "They will be here any moment. Please hurry, Tsunayoshi. We are depending on you as our boss."

Those words made Tsuna's stomach churn a little more. _What do I choose?_

Tsukiyo sighed as she rubbed her temples. "Alright, fine. You guys go ahead first. Deimos, remember that mansion that we used to live in? Take him there." she said, earning surprised looks from the others. _What the hell? She's risking it!_ "Tsuna, I'm giving you twelve hours. Just half a day to clear everything with your friends and whatnots. I'll cover you but you better stay safe okay?" she hissed, dragging Tsuna in the other direction.

Tsuna's eyes brightened up. "Thank you so much! I owe you one!"

_Yeah, you'd better do so! Hell, why am I even bothering to go to such extent to help you?_

Deimos and Aaron hesitated for a while before turning to leave. _I hope we're not making a mistake by following that squirt…_

Tsukiyo and Tsuna ran through the passageways and after almost an hour of endless running in which poor Tsuna definitely did not enjoy, Tsukiyo stopped in front of a ladder and ushered Tsuna over. "Come on! It was just a little running! We don't have much time!"

"Y-Yes..." he panted, struggling to climb it. He opened up the trap door and scrambled out of the dark, damp tunnel and into the lovely fresh air of Namimori.

"Remember Tsuna, we will leave at eight in the evening so have fun with your friends till then. I'll be following you to cast an illusion that even Reborn can't see, okay?"

"I-Illusion?-"

"Yes, I'm an illusionist. We can talk about it later."

"O-Okay... I-I don't know what to say... Thanks..."

"Don't say. Just go. Now." she growled.

Tsuna got up and ran towards Namimori High. Just then, familiar bickering was heard.

"Oi! Yakyu-baka! I told you to stop mentioning juudaime like he's dead!"  
>"But it's true! He wouldn't want you to beat up your classmates!" the taller male said with a hearty laugh.<p>

"W-We have to s-see the new boss again next week..." a girl said, meekly.

"WOW! IS THAT SAWADA TO THE EXTREME?"

"Shut up, turf-head! You're too loud!- JUUDAIME!" Gokudera caught sight of his precious boss and made a beeline for him.

"Tsuna!"

"Boss!"

"HEY SAWADA! YOU FINALLY CAME BACK!"

Tsuna sweat dropped at the volume and wondered why no one had even given them a second glance. He looked up at the roof of a building and saw Tsukiyo there who gave him a thumbs up.

Yamamoto pulled Tsuna in for a one arm hug and grinned. "Tsuna! Where have you been all this while?"

"I was living in another town...Erm... I only have a few hours with you so... I have to tell you some things..."

"Ju-Judaime? What do mean a few hours?"

Tsuna let off a heavy sigh. "I can't tell you now but all I can say is that I will become Decimo again, no matter what."

Cue sparkly flowers and shining background for Gokudera. "Judaime! I'll follow to the ends of the earth if I must! I'll burn the town for you! Let me follow-"

"G-Gokudera! I've already told you, You can't! You have to stay in the Vongola... Please?"

"Maa maa, Tsuna already promised that he'll be back so don't worry! Don't you trust him? We have to be strong for his sake!"

"H-Hey! Of course I do you idiot!"

"Sawada! I have absolute faith in you!"

Tsuna smiled gratefully at them. "I need to tell you something... I'll be leaving Japan for a few years-"

"WHAT? Why?" Gokudera shouted, scaring a few birds away. _That wasn't mentioned at all!_

"I can't stay here because the Scuro Vampa have started searching, or rather, hunting for me and I need to find a way to clear my name..." Tsuna said, looking up at the clear, empty sky. _Without the attributes, the sky is nothing._

"We can help you too!" Yamamoto comforted, patting his shoulder.

Ryohei stood in front of Tsuna and pumped his fists into the air. "We will stick together as an extreme family! Right, octopus-head?"

"Of course, stupid turf-top! I'll do anything for juudaime!"

Tsuna chuckled at their cheerful exuberance. I'm so glad to have them as my guardians... "I know you guys want to help but it's too risky for you... I just want you to be safe until I return..."

"Tsuna... If you say so then I'm fine. I believe in you! Just keep in touch with us once in a while... Okay?"

"Yea! We were so worried to the EXTREME!"

Tsuna chuckled before turning to leave. "Thank you..."

As they left, Chrome trailed behind them and at one point, she looked up with her large doe eye and smiled at Tsukiyo, bowing a little and mouthing the words, "Thank you."

Tsukiyo was slightly taken aback but managed to force out a smile and wave to her. Wow, she noticed me? _Oh well, she's an illusionist too after all...  
>Now, where did Tsuna go?...<em>

~~~~~~~.

"H-Hibari?..." Tsuna asked, knocking on the door hesitantly.

"Enter."

Tsuna turned the knob and pushed open the door slowly, entering and closing it gently behind him.

"Hebivore, you're back." he said with a smirk as he looked up from his paperwork.

"I would like to discuss about my plan with you..." Tsuna said bravely. "I need your help about-"

"Sit." the skylark merely said, his steely, cold eyes staring into Tsuna's warm, brown ones. He took a seat and started to explain.

~~~~~~~.

"Are you done?" Tsukiyo asked as she felt Tsuna's presence from behind her on the rooftop.

"Yeah..." he answered after a slight pause. "I heard the new boss is kind of mean... Will they be okay?"

Tsukiyo sighed and turned around. "They have faith in you so try to have faith in your own guardians."

"I-I know... But-"

"Go and see your mother."

"What?"

"Go. You won't be seeing her for a while, you know."

Tsuna gave a weak smile and went off.

~~~~~~~.

_Is Reborn here?..._ Tsuna wondered as he looked around. He placed a hand on the gate and after much contemplation, he pushed it open and walked up to the front door. _Here goes nothing..._ He raised his hand and was about to knock on the door when it suddenly opened from inside.

"Tsu... Na?... Tsuna... Tsu-kun!" Nana cried, pulling the shocked yet relieved teen into her arms.

"Mama... It's nice to see you again."

"Mou, Tsu-kun!" she pouted, "At least tell me beforehand that you're leaving!"

"I'm s-sorry..." Tsuna hesitated. "Mama... I have to go for a long while again..."

"Eh... Tsu-kun... You're just like your father now, aren't you? The traveling, the-"

"No! I am nothing like him! I-I have to do something important..."

"I understand... Reborn said that you were accused of something and you had to clear your name."

"Eh, he did?... I guess that's true..."

"So just do your best! Mama will support you! Do your best!" She said with a bright smile.

"Thank you, mama..." he mumbled, hugging her tightly. After a few minutes, he pushed her gently and turned.

"I'll come back and see you soon..."

"I'll be waiting! Bye bye!" she waved, rubbing a tear from her eye. _My little boy has finally grown up…_

Tsuna soon disappeared down the streets and Nana went back into the house.

"Thank you, Reborn..." she said, walking into the kitchen.

"No problem, mama." said the Sun arcobaleno who was sipping his espresso on the sofa. _Dame-Tsuna, you better get your plan to work or else the Vongola and the Mafia world will be in trouble..._

~~~~~~~.

"Finally done?" Tsukiyo asked.

Tsuna nodded and followed Tsukiyo to the airport. They went back to the passageway they had come out from and after more than an hour of walking, they came face to face with a man in a black suit with a barely visible crest of the Scuro Vampa famiglia.

"Ahaha! You! You're the Vongola Decimo aren't you?" he shouted, his voice echoing in the passageway. A small glint in the dim place showed that he was probably holding a gun. "Well, who do we have here? Your bodyguard? Ah who cares! I'm here to take you back to boss so you should just cooperate, kid!"

Tsuna heard a click of a gun and flinched. _What are we going to do? He might call reinforcements!  
><em>Tsukiyo whispered into Tsuna's ear, "I have a plan..."

"What're you kids talking about? My other subordinates will be here soon so sit tight!"

Tsukiyo stepped out of the shadows with a calm expression, a gun trained on the Scuro Vampa mafioso's head. "We're in a rush, could you let us pass?"

The man's eyes widened as the girl came into view. "D-Decesso? A-Aren't you in Italy?"

"I will be. Now move."

"I-I can't! My b-boss will kill me!"

"Not my problem." she said nonchalantly, shrugging her shoulders. _Pathetic dogs… Your damn boss is going to destroy us all and of course, I'll be there to break his neck._

Suddenly a flaming fist came right at him from behind and knocked the man out cold. Tsukiyo kept her gun and took out a syringe filled with a clear liquid and injected it into the man's neck.

"Tsukiyo?... What are you doing?..." he asked apprehensively.

"Aaron gave me this in case we came across any enemy who saw our faces. This erases their memories of the last ten minutes. Cool huh?"

"Erm... Useful, yes... Cool?... Not so much..." Tsuna shuddered at the thought of being injected with something like that, regardless of it being fatal or not. Tsukiyo started to run, dragging Tsuna with her. "We should hurry, they're coming for us now."

They soon quickened their pace when they heard voices behind them.

"Ah! We're finally out!" Tsuna mumbled, stretching himself and taking in the fresh air.

They boarded the other plane that Aaron requested and took their seats, heaving a sigh of relief. The new boss looked out of the small window as the plane spluttered into life and slowly ascended into the clear evening sky. The skyline of Namimori grew smaller and smaller, Japan soon disappearing from sight. "Goodbye... Who knows when I'll come back..."

Tsukiyo turned to his direction and patted his shoulder. "Idiot, you said you were going to make things right, weren't you? You have support from your guardians, the Shimon family, and for now, us. Everything will be fine..." she assured. _I guess he's not so bad. We could probably stick with him for a while. What kind of mafia boss cares so much for his subordinates?_

Tsuna smiled and took a glance at his Natsu ring for comfort. _Yeah, I have friends to support me!..._

But does he know what will await them?

-end of daily life arc-

* * *

><p><strong>Hehe, end of daily life arc! From here on, the plot will get more interesting (I HOPE)! Also, this is where the REAL plot starts! Meaning? The enemy starts coming in and probably some action. In future chapters, I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING so if you have any questions about why something is like this or why is this like this (=_=), feel free to ask but I assure you, everything will fall into place and things WILL be explained. This is the first fic that I totally put my heart and soul into (and some planning)!<strong>

**Oh, almost forgot, the OCs! For or against?**

**Currently, it's:**

**For (yes! OCs remain!) : 4**

**Against (Go away,OCs! We want Tsuna!) : 1**

**When you guys reviews, do state whether they should remain or go! Yes, the poll which is not on my profile, still stands. Those who have already told me your choices, you don't have to answer again :) It will close... when I say so. LOL. Okay, thanks everyone!**

**Leave a review? :)**


	8. The Future!

_**The future!**_

-Five years later –

Life had been unbearable for the guardians when they reluctantly moved to the Vongola mansion after their schooling day (especially our dear Hibari). Their new boss was hated among them but nothing could be done. Gokudera had even tried running away many times to find Tsuna but his plans were always thwarted by Reborn. He told the guardians that their boss could not be changed because he was doing his job very well (which was mostly paperwork.). Of course, this infuriated the guardians since Ryumin Kyohei was such a pain in the ass to them. In fact, they would have gone insane if not for Tsuna's timely calls to them whenever they were extremely upset or troubled. Once in a few months, Tsuna would call them and ask about their well-being and the situation of the Vongola and also tell them about his own life, without revealing to them that he is the boss of the Armonia family. They didn't need to know yet. His calls gave them glimmers of hope and assurance that their one and only boss was doing well.

"I said not now!" Kyohei shouted, pushing Lambo roughly out of the room and slamming the door in the child's face.

"Must... To... Le... Rate..." Lambo sniffed. No, he wasn't going to cry. No way. Not him. He was ten years old now and he wasn't a crybaby anymore... Well, not as much. He walked down the hallway back to the dining hall, his body stiff and tensed, mentally repeating to himself that crying was for babies, not for awesome hitmen like him who were going to kick Reborn's butt in the near future(?). Suddenly, something warm touched his shoulder and he let out a shriek. "C-Chrome! I-I wasn't scared at all!..." he said, puffing out his chest. "I was erm... Surprised!"

Chrome gave a warm smile and gently pushed the cow print hoodie-wearing boy. "Don't bother calling Boss Ryumin for dinner anymore... Let's go, Boss might call today since it's the 10th of September..."

Lambo immediately brightened up. "Oh yeah! Dame-Tsuna will be able to hear the great Lambo-sama's voice again!"

Chrome giggled and took Lambo's hand in her own, leading him towards the dining hall. They opened the double doors of the dining hall and was met with the sight of the guardians noisy bickering which was a usual occurrence ever since they started living together. Of course, all hell would break loose.

"Hey Chrome!... He doesn't want to eat with us again huh?" Yamamoto said, trying to shush Gokudera who was now quarrelling with Ryohei. Chrome nodded as they went to their seats.

"Che! At least I don't have to see his stupid, pathetic face! He's such a damn hypocrite, acting so nicely in front of the ally families!" Gokudera grumbled, slamming the fork on the table and pushing back his chair, ready to leave. Just then, Reborn entered the room and jumped onto the table.

"Ciaossu. Our ally family boss has arrived; go to the meeting room now. Ryumin will be there shortly."

"Unfortunately." Gokudera mumbled, a corner of his mouth turned up slightly as he flipped open his cell phone to read a text from Tsuna.

"Gokudera, please do not let anything happen again. If you try to blow up anyone again, you will be duly punished. By yours truly of course." Reborn warned, smirking as he saw Gokudera's face pale a little.

"Was that Tsuna's message?" Yamamoto whispered to Gokudera when they left the room.

"Yea, he's calling tonight." Gokudera had a scowl on his face but it was obvious that the Storm guardian could hardly contain his excitement. It had been three months since Tsuna called and almost two years since the guardians saw him.

~~~~~~~.

"I know, father! You don't have to tell me that! Speaking of which, are you even finished with your so-called greatest- Like I give a damn about that! I've been doing this for five years and I hate every minute of it! Everyday it's paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork! I can't stand those idiots which they call my guardians! Can't you get Uncle to do something about it? Grrr, I deserve more credit than this for doing your dirty work! How about sis? What's the apple of your eye doing? The effects are wearing off, I can feel it!- whaddya mean it lasts seven years? I'm telling you that it's wearing off! You should be thankful that I didn't have to train or go into battle! I would be dead by then! " Kyohei tapped the desk impatiently, furrowing his brow. "Enough already! I have another boring meeting to attend to, bye." he shouted into the receiver, hanging up abruptly and slamming the much abused phone down. He got up and stomped out of his office.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid!_ He muttered under his breath. Kyohei glared at the Vongola ring and tried to light up the ring. A tiny flame burst out but sizzled after a few seconds. Since the beginning, Kyohei's flame had always been weak but over the years, it just got weaker and weaker. _No one must know about this..._

"Hey, boss, what a coincidence!" Yamamoto called out when he saw their boss walking towards them, deep in thought. He looked up and when he saw them, he just rolled his eyes.

"Hmph, don't make a fool out yourselves later." Kyohei snorted, pushing open the door to the meeting room. At once, the air of grumpiness around him was gone and was immediately replaced with a cheerful air as he gave a charismatic smile to the other man in the room.

"Tch, fucking hypocrite." Gokudera mumbled.

~~~~~~~.

"Tsuna! You have to sign these too." Tsukiyo said, dropping a stack of papers onto the already messy desk of the Armonia Famiglia boss. Thank God for the strong mahogany desk which could withstand all that paperwork, piled up like a mountain.

Tsuna's jaw dropped as he eyed the mountain of documents that needed his stupid signature. "Whaaaa...? But... But I-"

"Sorry but you don't have a choice. You have to leave a good impression on the other families by showing them our efficiency since this is a new and small family."

"We already have so many ties with the other families... Can I just take a rest for a short while?..."

Tsukiyo sighed and turned to leave the office. "We still need to have ties with that family, remember? Fine, just take a nap, I'll make you some coffee but you have to be up by then, okay?"

"Okay thanks... By the way, have you done what I asked you to investigate about the Scuro Vampa?"

"Yes... I'm almost complete with gathering the evidence to clear you name but I still can't find out what they're actually creating... I can't wait for their end to come."

"Well, at least that's something..." . Tsuna yawned and laid his head on the table, falling fast asleep within a matter of minutes.

~~~~~~~.

"Finally! That old man was a pain in the butt!" Kyohei said, stretching himself.

"You have another important meeting in two days' time." Reborn announced, suddenly appearing from behind.

"What? Why?" Kyohei complained, lying down on the sofa and not giving anyone space to sit.

"This is an important meeting to become allies with a new family. The Armonia family may be young but they're getting much support in the span of five years. They could be a very important and powerful family in future so it's best to form ties with them soon. I heard that they're going to be allies with the Cavallone family too so be on your best behaviour."

"Yeah yeah...Whatever…"

Gokudera looked at him with disgust and left the room. Some just shook their heads and followed Gokudera. Hibari gave him a glare so intense that it could bore right through the wall. It took him much self-control to not whip out his tonfas and just bite that herbivore to death ten times over. After all, he could tell that their 'boss' was no more than a figurehead.

Chrome peeked out of the door one last time before closing it gently. "Coast is clear..."

The guardians were in an isolated section of the mansion where not many would frequent, especially Ryumin Kyohei.

"Ah... Achoo!" Lambo sneezed. "This room is always so dusty! Why doesn't anyone clean it!"

"Stupid cow, it shows that we won't be disturbed since no one ever comes here!" Gokudera grumbled, his grip on his phone tightening. As if on cue, the phone started to ring and Gokudera of course, answered it by the first ring.  
>"Juudaime!" he greeted, putting him on speaker.<p>

"Hey Tsuna! How's everything?" Yamamoto asked cheerfully.

"Good to hear from you to the extreme again!"

"Boss..."

"Bwahaha! Isn't dame-Tsuna glad to hear Lambo's voice again?"

Hibari just grunted and looked away.

"Hi everyone!... It's so nice to hear you guys again... Everything's fine here, I should be able to clear my name very soon... How are you guys and the Vongola nowadays?" Tsuna said with a slightly matured voice.

"I really hate that Kyohei jerk! I wish I could just blow him up or something! He doesn't deserve to be the boss!"

"Maa maa! Let's not talk about such unhappy things... Oh yea! During our previous meeting, Gokudera almost blew up the other boss when he insulted you!"  
>"G-Gokudera! I told you that it's okay! Please don't blow anyone up!"<p>

Gokudera knelt down and and started bowing to the phone. "I'm sorry juudaime! I... I just can't stand anyone who insults you like that!"

Tsuna on the other side could more or less guess what his right-hand man was doing and sighed. "It's okay, Gokudera... Stop bowing and get up now..."

"Yes juudaime!"

"Bossu?..." Chrome said meekly.

"Yes, Chrome?"

"When are you coming back?..."

Tsuna chuckled and replied, "Soon. I have to go now, I have some things to settle." he said, the rustling of papers heard in the background.

"But we only talked for five extreme minutes!" Ryohei complained.

"Like I said, we'll meet soon and we can talk then! Bye!"

~~~~~~~.

"Hey Tsuna, we have a meeting with the Vongola in two days' time." Tsukiyo said, placing the steaming cup of coffee onto an empty spot on the table.  
>"I know... I still think it's too early... Can you represent me again?" Tsuna asked, taking a small sip of the fragrant coffee as he continued signing the documents.<p>

"Yeah, just as usual I suppose."

"Thanks..."

~~~~~~~.

Kyohei and the guardians went to the meeting room and waited. Reborn had told them to be there early and they were. An hour earlier.

"Why do we have to come so early? I was still sleeping dammit!" Kyohei complained, yawning loudly without covering his mouth.

"Yeah, you should have continued sleeping so I could smolder you with a nice, fluffy pillow." Gokudera mumbled loud enough for only the guardians to hear.

"Did you say something, dear _Gokudera, my right hand man_?" Kyohei said sinisterly.

"Of course not, why would I, _boss_?" he replied sarcastically, rolling his eyeballs.

Reborn observed them from a secret room, the corners of his lips turned down. _If this goes on, the Vongola will really crumble... What is my dame student doing?..._

Suddenly, the handle of the door turned, slowly, as if building the suspense in everyone. It opened and a slender figure came into view.

"It's a girl? The boss is a girl? Wait... Decesso?" Gokudera exclaimed.

"What's a chick like you doing here?" Kyohei asked with a wry smile.

"Who's decesso?" Yamamoto asked.

Gokudera rolled his eyes. "One of the top assassins in Italy!" _and also juudaime's classmate... No way... Could it be?..._ A spark relighted Gokudera's hope as his eyes brightened. He turned and saw Hibari smirking. _He's in this too?_

"I'm not the boss of the Armonia Famiglia. My name is Kagehane Tsukiyo, a representative of the Armonia Famiglia. My boss has urgent things to attend to today so he is not able to join us." the blue haired girl said, keeping a straight face. "He has entrusted me with the authority to discuss and sign the alliance."

Kyohei raised a brow. "So urgent that he couldn't even make time for THE Vongola?"

"Yes." she said bluntly. There was an awkward silence as Kyohei and the guardians stared at Tsukiyo. "Well? Shall we get started?"

"Okay-"

"Wait." Reborn jumped out from his hiding place and on to the table.  
><em>What now? Reborn? Why why why? Stop disturbing Tsuna's plan! This could not get any worse...<em> Tsukiyo thought, mentally slapping her forehead repeatedly.

"So Decesso, what's an independent assassin like you doing in a family?"

_Ah. Interrogation. Wonderful. This really got worse..._ "Is it a problem to want to have a sense of belonging?" _Even though our goal was for revenge, I have to admit, we had fun with Tsuna…_

"Of course not," he smirked. "Just wondering why."

"My boss has been treating my friends and I very well and we are grateful to him for that. Can we conti-"

"Does your boss understand the fact that _the_ Vongola actually wants to form an alliance with the Armonia? A new, small family." he said, emphasising on the "new" and "small".

_Okay, my dislike for Reborn just grew. Who knew he could be such a jerk? To think I actually admired him. You may be the best hitman in the world but I'm starting to get pissed._ "... And do you understand that the Vongola's foundation is weakening? Our Famiglia is growing fast. An alliance would be a very smart choice."

Getting cocky huh?... How did she get that information? Hm, looks like she's letting out some interesting things… "We will not discuss the terms of the alliance unless the boss himself is here. Only he will be the one to sign it as well." Reborn stated, staring hard into Tsukiyo's eyes with his own beady ones.

_Great, I'm doomed..._ She grumbled, averting her eyes away. "I shall pass that message to my boss. I will take my leave now." she said, bowing slightly and turning to leave.

"Why not stay here till he comes?"

_Oh no no no no..._ "I'm sorry but-"

"We have enough rooms after all. I'm sure he has enough close comrades to escort him, no?"

"But-"

"I said, stay." Reborn asserted, his voice calm and steady while his aura was a rather murderous one.

_I have a very bad feeling about this... I don't even need hyper intuition to know it..._ "O-Okay..."

"Gokudera, lead her to her room."

"Why me?-"

"Just do it."

Gokudera grumbled for a bit and beckoned for Tsukiyo to follow her. As they walked deeper into the mansion, Gokudera suddenly stopped and turned to face her.

"Is juudaime the boss?" Gokudera asked in a low voice.

Tsukiyo smirked. "Yes he is. I'm glad you figured it out with that brain of yours."

The Storm guardian broke into a wide grin, oblivious to her insult. "I knew juudaime was capable of running a family! Juudaime is the best! The Vongola was stupid to have him replaced over such a small matter!"

They soon arrived at her room and she went in, locking the door behind her. She took out her phone and pressed a few numbers.

"Hello, Tsukiyo! How did it go?"

"Failed. It was working till that stupid little Reborn just had to butt in and be a spoilsport. Now I have to stay in the Vongola mansion until you come personally..."

"Eeehhh? Ah Aaron come in." he said as voices was heard in the background. Tsuna covered the receiver, blocking out whatever conversation Tsukiyo was trying to eavesdrop on. "Tsukiyo! Great news! We have everything we need to get me off the hook! I'll be coming tomorrow with Deimos and Aaron okay?"

"Hm. See you tomorrow."

Suddenly, Reborn jumped on her head and sat down.

"H-Hey! What was that for?..." She grumbled, not bothering to remove the small yet heavy arcobaleno from her head.

"So how's Tsuna?" he asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Reborn." she replied coolly.

"Oh really? I already know his plans when he was discussing it with Hibari five years ago."

"Huh? Y-You did?... Okay fine, Tsuna doing well, he'll clear his name soon."

"Hm, that's good. I have a feeling that the Vongola won't last under that Kyohei's leadership. Oh, by the way, I didn't know anything about the discussion Hibari and Tsuna had. Ciao." he said, jumping off her head and heading towards the door.

"Wh-What? You... You tricked me!" she shouted, pointing an accusing finger at the seemingly innocent baby.

"Gullible." he just replied with a smirk, leaving the room. "Are you sure you're one of the best assassins in Italy?"

_You nasty little imp! I'm seriously starting to hate you!_

~~~~~~~.

"What should I say? How should I react? What if I mess up? What if I-"

"Shut up, will you?" Deimos grunted, watching as his boss tapped his foot nervously on the floor of the car and muttering those phrases repeatedly. "Hey, we're here."

Tsuna got out of the car and stood in front of the mansion. _How nostalgic... The last time I was here was during the inheritance ceremony…_ Deimos nudged at his shoulder and he quickly moved forward, knocking the door.

The oak door creaked open and one of the maids greeted them.

"Welcome, your hosts are waiting in the meeting room."

Tsuna took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "Aaron, do you have the things?"

"Yes I do." he assured, patting the briefcase in hand.

The Decimo gave a brief smile and turned to look forward. "Let's go."

~~~~~~~.

The meeting room was silent as Kyohei and the guardians sat around the table doing their own things. Suddenly, the knob of the door turned and a loud click echoed the room. Everyone turned to the direction of the door, anticipating. As it opened, a tall male stepped in followed by a three other people. His brown hair was still as messy and gravity-defying as ever but it was slightly longer now. His gaze fell on the guardians and he gave a longing smile, his hazel brown eyes dancing with joy at the sight of his friends.

The guardians stared in shock as the figure entered the room.

"Juu-" Gokudera resisted calling out to his precious boss.

"Tsuna..." Yamamoto said to himself.

Their precious boss was the boss of another family.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeap, to the future. But the battle won't be here :)... Sort of.<strong>

**I know, I know, the current boss of the Vongola is a *BLEEP BLEEP BLEEP!*! I hate him too :D**

**OC or no OC votes?**

**YESH, KEEP 'EM! : 9**

**NO, KILL 'EM!: 1**

**Well, landslide win? Poll closed! I guess they stay then ^^ Don't worry about the OCs! Their parts won't be like these few current chapters!**

**... This chapter felt awkward to write. Even this A/N is weird. I really don't know why but I hope it'll disappear before I write the next chapter... Probably because my mood isn't all that fantastic... Wanted to write x'mas fics but somehow, all my ideas are BL and I'm not posting those type of fics here... Thanks for reading and do review ^^**


	9. A turn of events

_**A turn of events**_

The familiar figure stood at the door of the room, in which silence descended upon.

The guardians' one and only boss was the boss of another famiglia and was now standing in front of them, staring straight at them, a smile gracing his lips.

Kyohei's jaw dropped as the Armonia Famiglia boss came in. _No... No!... Why is he here? S-Sawada Ts-Tsunayoshi? Father didn't tell me that he is the boss of another famiglia! What the hell?_

"Good afternoon, my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, the boss of the Armonia Famiglia. These are my friends: Deimos, Aaron, and Tsukiyo. It's a pleasure to work with you, Ryumin Kyohei." Tsuna greeted professionally, hiding every bit of his hate for the man in front of him. No one hurts his friends and gets away with it. Yeah, no one.

"A-Ah n-nice to meet y-you too... Let's... Let's get started, y-yes?" Kyohei replied, giving a feeble smile.

The discussion went on for about two hours and the alliance was finally signed. Kyohei immediately excused himself and made his way back to his office. When he was out of sight, Gokudera rushed towards Tsuna and cried out, "Juudaime! Juudaime!... I knew your plan would be successful!..."

Yamamoto grinned and put a hand onto Tsuna's shoulder. "We're all happy to see you again! Will you be back for good?"

Tsuna looked as if he had just remembered something and turned around. "Tsukiyo, you know what you need to do, just don't harm him, okay?"

"Yeah, I'll try." she took the briefcase from Aaron and left the room. Reborn eyed her and decided to follow as well.

"SAWADA! I knew you had an EXTREME plan to come back!"

"Do you even know what the plan is, stupid turf-head?" Gokudera snorted, glaring at Ryohei.

"Of course not! But it felt like a plan so it must be to the extreme!" Ryohei shouted, pumping his fists in the air.

_What the hell?_

"B-Boss!" Chrome called out timidly, smiling shyly at him.

Lambo jumped onto Tsuna's lap, not caring that he was larger and heavier than he was five years ago, "Wahaha! Dame-Tsuna is back! Play with me!"

Hibari grunted and mumbled something about overcrowding as he proceeded to stand in the furthest corner in the room.

"I missed you guys so much!... I'm sorry that I couldn't share my plans with you since I had to keep it a secret..." Tsuna said, smiling warmly at his guardians. He had missed their mindless bickering, their childish spats and most of all, their warmth. He had missed his Family. "Where's Reborn?..."

"I think he left a while ago. Do you need him, juudaime?"

"Ah no, I was just wondering... Ah, Hibari! Thank you so much for your help!"

"Hn." Was the response of the Cloud guardian, acknowledging Tsuna with his usual glare.

~~~~~~~.

"Father! Why didn't you tell me that Sawada Tsunayoshi is the boss of the Armonia famiglia?... You didn't know? How could you not? What am I going to do? Oi father! Do something!..."

Kyohei furrowed his brow and bit his lower lip in frustration. _What does that stupid father of mine know anyway? He's not the one that's in danger! There's no way out for me if I get caught..._ "Father, I've worked so hard for you these few years, please let me go back home! I-I don't want to die!... Oh, your invention is complete?... So that means I can come back right?... Father?... Father? Don't leave me! I'm your son! I'll... I'll... I'll tell all your plans to the Vongola!... You wouldn't dare kill me! Your own son!..." Would he?... "H-Hello?... Father?... I take that back! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't... Hang up on me..." Kyohei slammed his head onto the table and started cursing. Suddenly, there were a few sharp raps on the door.

"Go away! I don't want to see anyone- Hey!" he snarled, raising his head from the table. His eyes widened when Tsukiyo entered and locked the door behind her. "Oh? What are you doing here, oh fair lady?" he said, forcing a smile.

"Cut the crap. You're the one that caused Tsuna to lose his position as Decimo, weren't you?" she hissed, pulling out a chair.

Kyohei paled visibly. _No way... I'm seriously dead now... _"H-How would you know anyway..."

"Hmph, obviously because I have evidence of you tampering with the videotape of the data storage room… Courtesy of your dear Cloud guardian and I. " she said as she opened the briefcase, revealing a stack of files and some tapes. "You gave out some Vongola secrets to the rival family, didn't you? That's why the attacks on the Vongola increased."

Kyohei started to tremble as those words sunk in. _I'm doomed already... No... If I kill her first... Then I'll be fine... Right?_ "There's... There's a camera in this room! You won't get away with it!" he cried out desperately.

"So? I can cast an illusion or edit the tapes~"

Kyohei's hand slinked slowly to the underside of the table and felt for his gun which was plastered there. Tsukiyo immediately caught what he was trying to do and brought out her own gun. He ripped the gun out from the tape and aimed it at Tsukiyo with a shaky hand while Tsukiyo aimed hers with a steady hold and a calm expression.

"Hm, who do you think will be victorious? You with your mediocre resolve or me, an assassin who has no qualms about killing you? I don't mind getting rid of a dumb puppet that mistreated my boss' friends." she said with a smirk. They held their position for a few seconds which seemed like eternity to Kyohei and he gave up, dropping the gun on the table.

"P-Please don't kill me!... I'll confess the truth! Hell, I'll even tell you about my father's plans! I'll give you any information you want! Just... Just let me live!" Kyohei was on the verge of tears as he stared at the silver gun in her hand.

_Che, coward. I didn't think it would be that easy. Wait, can it really be this easy?_ "Oh really? Then let's go tell them now." she said, lowering her gun.

"N-Now? B-But-"

"Were you thinking of escaping?..."

"No no no no! I'll go, I'll go!" he quickly said, standing up.

The small screen of the surveillance camera flickered and a smirk formed on a certain baby's face. _Oh? That was pretty fuss-free. Somehow, I still have this uneasy feeling about Ryumin Kyohei..._

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna and his guardians were chattering and laughing away when the door opened and in came their current boss, looking guilty and upset.

"I... I... I have something to confess... I'm actually f-from the Scu..." he hesitated and looked down at the ground. "My d-dad is the boss of the Scuro Vampa... Lorenzo Benigno... He-"

"You bastard!" Gokudera shouted, taking out his dynamites. "YOU'RE that son of a bitch's spy! You made juudaime suffer!"

"Gokudera! Let's just hear him out first... Okay?..." Tsuna quickly pulled Gokudera back to his seat and sat him down.

Kyohei shuddered, feeling angry glares on him. _Would it be better if he died by the Vongola's hand or his father's?_ "He is going to destroy the Vongola and the mafia with a new power he's creating! I-I don't know what is it but I do know that he is completing it very soon!... My... My sister... She's helping him create the ultimate weapon! My... My Uncle! He... He was the one that caused the Sawada Tsunayoshi to lose his Decimo position and put me as a candidate! My Uncle is part of Vongola Council... P-Please protect me...! If... If they find out, I'll die! They'll get me! Please don't let them hurt me!" Kyohei cried out, falling to his knees in front of Tsuna.

Reborn suddenly appeared from behind with a solemn look. "The Ninth has heard everything you just said."

"Wh-Whaaaaaat? B-But-"

"I want to know something and you better tell the truth. Why do you have the Vongola blood in you when you're not even a descendent of Primo?" the curious Arcobaleno asked. Reborn had investigated this guy's background and none linked to anyone in the Vongola at all. In fact, it was like he had just popped out from thin air.

"My Dad... Took Sawada Tsunayohi's blood, altered it a little and injected it into me..."

Kyohei looked up and quickly dropped his head again. "Remember when you were cut by him five years ago?... He used the blood."

Tsuna's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. _That time?..._

_A smirk appeared on the other man's face. Uh oh, not a good sign... "Oh? You found out? You heard it from my subordinates didn't you? Haha! Well it IS true but what can you do? Oh yes, do you want to know what I'm creating? " All of a sudden, his men burst through the doors and surrounded Tsuna who immediately went into Hyper Dying Will mode. How did so many appear at once? Did they know that he was coming?... He quickly knocked them out effortlessly and readied his fist for a punch at Lorenzo who discreetly took out a Swiss knife. "You know what your biggest mistake was? Not telling anyone that you came here~" Tsuna's eyes widened as the old man broke into a wide grin. The Decimo punched him and felt a sharp pain on his arm. He looked down and saw a dark red patch forming on his sleeve and the red liquid dripped onto the carpet._

_No way…_

The guardians were shocked at the revelation. "H-How?" _Was that type of technology even possible?_

Reborn frowned and jumped onto Tsuna's shoulder. "What else do you know? Their secrets? Weaknesses?"

Kyohei shook his head and started sobbing. The Arcobaleno sighed at the lack of information and turned to Tsuna. "Nono and I have already suspected some foul play in the council but we never knew it would be this big... He has decided to reappoint you as the Decimo although it has to be unofficial since we don't want to alert the council."

"YES! Juudaime! Welcome back!" Gokudera cheered as sparkly things and flowers appeared in the background. Yamamoto patted Tsuna's shoulder and grinned. "Looks like there's a lot to do now!"

"ALRIGHT! We're all back together to the extreme!"

Hibari stood in a corner and gave a smirk. Reborn turned to leave but before doing so, he said, "Go get some rest; I have a feeling something is going to happen... Tsukiyo and your friends, could you lock Kyohei back in his room?"

"Sure I guess," Tsukiyo answered, sighing as she beckoned the other two to follow her. She grabbed Kyohei by the arm and roughly yanked him up. "Let's go."

"Wait! No, no! D-Don't! They... They'll come for me! I don't want to die yet! P-Please!... Nooooo!..." Kyohei's voice got softer and softer as he was dragged down the hallway.

"I kind of pity him... I mean, he's being manipulated by his father..." Tsuna said sadly.

Reborn shook his head and looked at Tsuna. _Such a softie as usual… _"That's just too bad. So what are you going to do about the Armonia Famiglia?"

Tsuna blinked for a few moment and scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Erm... Combine them?"

"Forget it, we'll have this talk another time. All of you should go back to your rooms now. Meeting at nine in the morning tomorrow."

~~~~~~~.

The next morning, they got up early and Tsuna managed to wake up without the help of Reborn. There was an uneasy feeling in him and he started having a headache as soon as he got out of bed and made his way towards the bathroom. He looked into his own reflection in the mirror and frowned. The throbbing in his head was getting more intense with each second that passed and his grip on the edge of the sink tightened. He squeezed his eyes shut and wished hard for the pain to go away. Turning the tap faucet quickly, he splashed the cold icy water on his face and rinsed his mouth. _What is this feeling?.. Something is wrong._ All of a sudden, the pain dispelled and Tsuna opened his eyes. The pain and the uneasy feelings were completely gone, as though something had happened and was now over. To Tsuna, this feeling was rather foreign since he had never been in extreme danger before. Yes, he had been targeted a few times but Tsukiyo and the others would usually take care of it. By what means, he didn't really want to know. Tsuna let off a sigh and went out to join his rambunctious guardians for breakfast; putting what had just happened, in the back of his mind.

"Good morning juudaime!" Gokudera greeted cheerfully, stopping his fight with Yamamoto when Tsuna stepped in. Yamamoto immediately jumped out of his seat and gave Tsuna a hug. "Good morning, Tsuna!"

"Don't touch juudaime so freely!"

"GOOD MORNING TO THE EXTREME! It's a extreme day today! We should go train together after breakfast!"

Chrome entered the room and bowed politely to Tsuna. "M-Morning, Tsuna-san… Mukuro told me to tell you that he's glad to know that you're back so that he can take over your body…"

_Okay…_ "Erm… That's erm… Nice. Hello to him too…" said Tsuna as he watched Chrome sit down.

The Decimo gave a heartwarming smile to his guardians and promptly sat down at the head of the table. _It's been so long since I've sat down with all of them..._ He thought, scanning the room.

"Where is Tsukiyo?" he asked, noticing that his guardians, Aaron and Deimos were there but she wasn't.

"I sent her to check on that Kyohei to see if he was up for some severe questioning or maybe a little breakfast." Reborn said.

_Wow Reborn, your priorities are really messed up huh?_ "Tsukiyo isn't your lackey, Reborn..."

"She's _your_ lac- subordinate, what's wrong with asking someone to help? You're too soft, Dame-Tsuna. Looks like we have to resume our training, don't we?" the Arcobaleno smirked, noticing a shiver from Tsuna.

Tsuna paled as he waved his arms frantically, shouting that he had quite a fair bit of training from his three friends for the past five years. Definitely not something he would want to go through again. Ever. It was like having another Reborn there with the mountain-climbing-without-safety-rope training, fight-bears-in-the-subzero-temperatures-of-winter training, practicing to sign a mountain of paperwork within a short span of time (Who the heck needs that kind of training anyway?), blah and blah... The list would go on if it weren't for Tsuna's stomach protesting from the lack of something to digest. As he was about to dig in, the door flew open and in came a troubled looking Tsukiyo.

"Ryumin Kyohei... He's dead."

_What? How?_ Was probably the question most of them had in their minds.

"I only have one word. Gruesome." she paused for a while, waiting for response. When Tsuna stood up, the others followed suit and went off.

When Tsukiyo said that it was gruesome, she wasn't lying. Blood was splattered all over the room, fresh and still dripping down the beige coloured walls. Kyohei laid in a pool of blood in the centre of the room with his eyes wide open, blank and lifeless with fear in them. His body was contorted horribly and legs were almost severed off, hanging loosely by a piece of flesh. His chest had a gaping hole and a knife was embedded in the heart. This was clearly the work of an assassin.

"I-I think I feel my b-breakfast coming up..." Lambo whined, his face turning green as he ran towards Chrome for comfort.

Hibari didn't have much reaction to the contorted body since he had probably seen bodies like this before but he was slightly disgusted by the way Kyohei was twisted.

"There were no signs of a break in and nothing was stolen or moved out of place."

"Who did this?..." Tsuna asked softly, a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"I think the Scuro Vampa is behind this. They probably want to silence him permanently since he spilled the beans." Tsukiyo answered, still staring at the distorted body.

"Wait, if they know about it... Doesn't that mean that they'll take action sooner? The Vongola Council would know it too right?" Tsuna started to panic as those thoughts kept replaying in his head. _Was the headache this morning a warning? Why didn't he do anything?_

Reborn smacked the back of Tsuna's head and glared at him with his black beady eyes. "Stop worrying so much and start acting like a boss. This mansion will most likely be under attack soon so you guys should go to your positions."

The others nodded and left, leaving Tsuna and his three friends. "What positions? Are they-"

"We talked about it when you weren't here yet. They will be protecting the different parts of the mansion. Here." Reborn threw something at Tsuna and when he caught it, his eyes widened.

"Vongola gear...?"

"Yes, Kyohei never touched it so don't worry. He was too incapable to handle it. His ring was a fake too."

"Ehhh? But how?... Wouldn't anyone detect it?"

Reborn smirked and looked at him smugly. "This is the awesome Reborn we're talking about here."

Tsuna sweat dropped. _Still so cocky after five years..._

"Anything else to say?" Reborn asked.

"Erm, nothing."

"Oi, what do we do with that?" Deimos grumbled, pointing to the body.

"I think-" Tsuna stopped talking and looked round the room. His Hyper Intuition was warning him again but it wasn't as intense as this morning.

Suddenly, a shadow swooped past the window outside and a small buzz was sounding. "I don't think we have to worry about the body anymore... The Scuro Vampa have come for us now! Run!" she yelled, pushing Tsuna and the others out of the room in time before part of it exploded, along with the body. Soon, blasts were heard simultaneously and mafiosos with the Scuro Vampa emblem on their uniform came charging towards them. Tsukiyo, Deimos, and Aaron stood protectively in front of Tsuna. "Go find your guardians now and bring them to the basement! We'll hold them off for now." Tsukiyo shouted, bringing up her weapons.

"But-"

"Dame-Tsuna, let's go, they can take care of it. Your top priority now is to get your guardians and plan for the next move." Reborn said sternly.

Tsuna looked back worriedly at the trio before running towards the west wing. _Please be back safely..._

"Damn it! Why are there so many and why didn't we sense them at all?" Gokudera shouted through the shooting, adding with his exploding dynamites. Hibari kept silent as his tonfas collided with his attackers, throwing them to the other side of the room. "Hn, more herbivores to bite to death."

Even after knocking out so many, they kept coming at Gokudera and Hibari relentlessly.

Meanwhile, at another side of the mansion...

"Y-Yamamoto! Behind you!" Chrome shouted timidly, using her trident to stab another mafioso.

The swordsman's eyes narrowed and swiftly turned around, slashing his attacker in the gut. "Thanks Chrome!" he said, proceeding to knock out the other mafioso around him.

"W-Where is Bossu? Is he okay?..."

Yamamoto paused for a while to think. Oh yeah, Tsuna might be attacked too! But he should be okay right?...

"Wow, they're putting up an extreme fight!" Ryohei yelled, punching the mafiosos, effectively knocking them out.

"Hah! No one can catch the great Lambo-sama!" Lambo dodged all their attacks and led them towards Ryohei who in turn, knocked them out cold.

~~~~~~~.

"Why do we have to go to the basement? Isn't the escape route on the ground floor?" Tsuna asked as they ran towards the blast which occured again a few moments ago.

"That's because we're not escaping, baka. Hurry up, we don't have much time before the Scuro Vampa get us completely."

Tsuna and Reborn soon entered a smoky room and when it cleared, the sight of bodies strewn all over greeted them. "H-Hibari?... Gokudera?... Are you okay?" Tsuna called out hesitantly. A few grunts were heard and Tsuna immediately ran towards it. "Gokudera!" he knelt down beside the semi-unconscious Storm guardian and shook him lightly so as to not aggravate his wounds.

"Ju... Juudaime... I'm sorry, they... Che,they caught me off guard... They had this new power too..." Gokudera explained weakly, pushing himself up. Hibari was leaning against the wall, trying not to wince at the pain of his wounded arm.

Tsuna bit his lower lip. _If_ even _Hibari was injured so badly, what would happen to the others? What would happen to Chrome and Lambo?..._ "I need you to go to the basement okay? Can you make it?"

Gokudera nodded grimly and got up slowly. He was about to fall again when a hand grabbed his arm and prevented him from falling back down.

"Thanks, Hibari..." Gokudera said as they both staggered out.

~~~~~~~.

"Hey Chrome, are you okay? You shouldn't over exert yourself with your illusions..." Yamamoto said, supporting Chrome who looked rather pale.

"It's... Okay... At least we... Managed to stop all of them here... Ah, Boss is here..." she gave a small smile, pointing towards the door.

"Chrome! Yamamoto! Are you hurt?" Tsuna asked as he entered the room.

"Ah, Tsuna! I'm fine! Chrome here is just weak from the intensive illusions she just made!"

Tsuna heaved a sigh of relief and smiled. "That's great, could you both go to the basement? Gokudera and Hibari should be there already."

"Alright!" Yamamoto slung Chrome's arm over his shoulder and walked out slowly towards the basement stairs.

~~~~~~~.

"Onii-san? Lambo?" Tsuna called out. The hallway was awfully quiet which was not normal, considering that Ryohei and Lambo were pretty noisy as a pair. "Are you guys okay? Onii-san! Lambo!" he called out once more, his tone getting more and more desperate. _Oh no, what happened to them? Are they okay? Please be fine... Please..._

Suddenly, a dry cough echoed through the silence and a spark of hope lighted up in the Decimo once again.

"That was so extreme! Hey Sawada! Those people were weird! They had those black fireball things!" Ryohei shouted, dusting himself and picking up Lambo from the rubble.

"How dare they try to hurt the great Lambo! I'll make them pay!" he pouted, glaring down at the partially destroyed ground.

"You had me so worried there for a moment... G-Go to the basement now, the others are waiting there..."

"Okay! We'll meet you there to the extreme!" he shouted before running off at top speed. It was like he wasn't injured at all from the way he acted and moved but of course, something like that wouldn't escape Tsuna's eye. _His arm is broken yet he still carried Lambo... Black fireball... What is that?..._

~~~~~~~.

"Is everyone here?" Reborn asked, scanning the dimly lit room. "Okay-"

"Wait! How about Tsukiyo and the others?" Tsuna exclaimed, shooting glances at the door.

"Don't worry about them; I've already said that they'll handle it."

"But-"

"Shut up, or else." the Arcobaleno threatened, aiming his Leon gun at Tsuna who quickly cupped his mouth. "I think they're capable enough to take care of themselves." After a short pause, Reborn smirked and continued, "Nono, Gianinni, Spanner, Irie and I have discussed about the Scuro Vampa issue and have decided to build this as a last resort."

"Eh? L-Last... Resort?" Tsuna exclaimed. _The situation really worsened to this point huh?_

"We didn't think Kyohei would get killed and that the Scuro Vampa would attack so soon... It hasn't been properly tested so we don't know what will happen to the surroundings, your bodies, or the space and time. This machine here will take you five years back into the past and from there, all of you will bring them down before anything can happen. Your bodies will change back to what they were five years ago but your memories will still be retained so that it won't be such a hassle."

"Reborn, will you be coming back with us?"

"Of course, Dame-Tsuna. I can't just leave my student to take care of himself yet." Reborn teased, an evil smile on his face.

_Urgh... Of course he'll try to make my life as miserable as possible... Who am I trying to kid?_ "What about Gianinni, Spanner and Irie? Are they coming?"

Reborn frowned and lowered his fedora. "I'm afraid not. They have to stay with the machine in case any complications arise..."

Suddenly the door crashed open and Tsukiyo, drenched in blood, ran in shouting, "You have to go now, they're gaining on us!"

"Tsu-Tsukiyo! What about you guys?"

The girl just gave a small grin and gave a thumbs up. "Don't worry about us, save your own asses first."

"But you're our-"

"Just go damn it! Before I start tearing up and try to bear hug you!" she shouted, kicking Tsuna in the butt into the machine where he disappeared into the flash of light.

Gokudera's eyes widened and he struggled to get up. "Stupid woman! What the hell did you do? Juudaime!" As if a surge of energy returned and went through his body, he jumped toward the glowing portal and disappeared too. Yamamoto followed suit and carried Chrome in while the others hobbled behind with a flash of blue.

Reborn looked at Tsukiyo with an expressionless face. "You sure?"

"Heh, as the right-hand of the Armonia Famiglia, I can only do this much. Besides, Tsuna needs his own family more than us; we can never replace them. We still need to get our revenge on this side anyway. If you see our younger selves, do send a greeting won't you?" Tsukiyo said, turning to leave. "Till we meet again, or never."

The infant shook his head and gave a smirk. "We'll see." he said before jumping through the portal.

* * *

><p><strong>MERRY CHRISTMAS PEOPLE! It's 24 December 7.30pm here! I wanted to upload this chapter at midnight but my wonderful parents told me that I had to get off the computer by 10 p.m =_= HAH, I'll be awake anyway ^^ This is the longest chapter so far so let the excess be a x'mas present to you guys? :) <strong>

**How 'bout some reviews as a present hm? Not too much to ask for XD The only present I'll be receiving from is my Dad so yeah, acknowledgement would be nice ^^**

**Love you guys! Merry x'mas and happy holidays! (shit, new term of school next year =_=)**

**P.S : Yeah, noticed that the future arc is only like, what, one and a half or two chapters? Heh, I intended to drag it on but it would flow with my plot very well... Oh well, even if they are in the past, you might see changes in their character... (20 year olds in 15 year old bodies anyone? XD )**


	10. Gathered

_**Gathered**_

…_Besides, Tsuna needs his own family more than us; we can never replace them. We still need to get our revenge on this side anyway. If you ever see our younger selves, do send a greeting won't you?" Tsukiyo said, turning to leave. "Till we meet again, or never."_

_The infant just shook his head and gave a smirk. "We'll see." he said before jumping through the portal._

A warm light shone on Tsuna's face and he turned away, wrapping his blanket round him tighter when he heard a click of a gun.

"Dame-Tsuna, you're going to be late for school." a squeaky voice said, causing the boy to bolt up.

"Eh? Where am I? Wait, I'm home?... Did I really go back in time?" he looked down at himself and saw that he was fifteen years old again. Great, that means he was shorter.

"What are you blabbering about? Going back in time? Were you knocked in the head so many times till your screw got loose? Your two guardians are waiting for you outside."

_… Hey, even if it were true, it would probably be your fault!_ "Reborn?... I thought... Oh no, did something go wrong? He didn't make it?..." Tsuna cried out frantically, scratching his head.

The baby smirked. "Just kidding. Anyway, you should hurry up or I'll have to shoot you to get into your Dying Will mode… Heh. We'll meet up after school to plan."

Tsuna's jaw dropped and he quickly got ready for school. A frown marred Reborn's face as stood at the window, watching Tsuna laugh with his guardians as they made their way to school. _Something is still not right..._

~~~~~~~.

"Juudaime! I'm so glad we can go to school together again!" Gokudera greeted, grinning brightly at his boss.

"Yeah! This is so fun! Just like old times eh?" Yamamoto quipped, his usual carefree smile on his face.

"I wasn't talking to you, baseball freak, and you sound like an old man so stop it!"

Tsuna chuckled at their little bicker and continued walking. As much as he wanted to relax and have fun, a huge problem was arising and if it wasn't stopped, who knows what might happen. The Scuro Vampa boss would even infuse blood to produce a candidate and kill his own son at that. How inhumane can he get? He stole a glance at his two friends behind him. It's been a while since we've been apart… And I wasn't really there for them when they needed me… Can I really lead them?

"... Daime...! Juudaime!"

"Huh?... Oh Gokudera! Did... Did you say something?" Tsuna said as he turned to face his Storm guardian.

Gokudera looked at his boss worriedly when he saw Tsuna frowning and muttering to himself. "Baseball freak here wants to know if he can play baseball in school."

Tsuna arched a brow. _Oh_ _yeah, it has been quite a while since he played baseball huh?..._ "Sure of course you can! I have a feeling that we'll be here longer than expected so I guess we should make the most out of it..."

"Heh, thanks Tsuna!" Yamamoto said, patting Tsuna's shoulder.

"Hey! Don't touch juudaime so freely!" Gokudera shouted. Soon they started their one-sided bickering again.

"Wow, everything is really the same as before, even the lessons..." Tsuna thought, staring blankly into space.

"Sawada! Stop daydreaming and answer this question! Sawada!" the teacher grumbled angrily, rapping his knuckles on the board. Tsuna jerked from his seat and quickly got up to solve it. He could hear giggling and snide remarks from behind him but he ignored it anyway.

"Heh, it's dame-Tsuna after all! How can you let him do that question, sensei?"

"He's going to mess it up as usual."

The brunette gave a small smirk and continued looking at the ground as he walked back to his seat. Of course he could answer it! After all, he did go through this before and his mind was of a mature and (somewhat) smart 20-year-old. If he couldn't answer that, it would be a total disgrace and Reborn... Well, if he ever found out... Let's just say the consequences were not really all sugar and spice. All of a sudden, the classroom became silent and the teacher gaped while referring to his book. "Th-That is absolutely correct... Good job for once, Sawada." the teacher stammered, emphasising on the word "once".

_This seems so much easier now than before..._ Tsuna thought, turning to look at Gokudera who gave him a thumbs up and Yamamoto who as usual was dozing off with a textbook opened in front of him.

~~~~~~~.

After school, the trio was walking out of school to Tsuna's home where the meeting would be held when they heard a cry for help.

"H-Help! My purse! Please catch th-that thief!"

They looked at one another and Tsuna nodded, running towards the source of the plea. When they arrived, they saw a blond haired girl on the ground with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Excuse me, where did the thief run off to?" Tsuna asked softly.

"Th-That way..." she whimpered, pointing towards an alley.

"Let's go." Tsuna said to his guardians. They ran into alley as they caught a glimpse of the thief.

The sounds of footsteps and the occasional splash of puddles led Tsuna and his guardians hot on the thief's heels and after a few turns, the thief had reached a dead end.

"Shit!" he cursed, eyes darting around the moldy brick walls to find a way to escape. His eyes fell upon a trash can and some crates and he smirked but before he could climb onto one of them, he heard a menacing shout.

"Stop right there, you fucking bastard! You have no right to make juudaime chase after you!"

The thief turned his head and saw a teen with silver hair, followed by another teen who was actually smiling as he gave chase and behind him was a brunette, panting away like he just ran a marathon. "I can't believe I was ahead of them at first but now I'm right behind them..." Tsuna thought, wiping his sweat off his brow.

"I said STOP!" growled Gokudera, slinging a few of his dynamites at the thief who did not look surprised at all to see lit dynamites flying dangerously towards him.

_Oh great..._ he thought, falling off the rickety crate he was on and crashing to the dusty earth. He was about to get up when something heavy stomped onto his gut. "YEEEOUCH! What the hell?" he screamed, letting go of the bright, pink purse in response.

Tsuna went forward to pick the blinding purse up when he saw the thief's face clearly under a dim light. _Have I seen him before?... He looks really familiar but I just can't put my finger on it... _"Hey, you look really familiar..."

The thief gave a wry grin and answered, "Yeah, I do, don't I? Well, you should know! Haha!" At that moment, he shoved Gokudera's foot off him and scrambled up, jumping over the wall.

"HEY! Get back h-"

"Leave it, Gokudera... We have the purse back so let's go." _What did he mean by that?... Have we really met?_

~~~~~~~.

"Is this your purse, miss?" Tsuna asked the sobbing girl as he handed her the purse. The girl's eyes brightened up immediately and quickly took it.

"Thank you so much! I don't know how to repay you..."

"Ah, it's okay- Oh no! We're going to be late! Reborn will kill us if we don't get there soon! We should go now, Gokudera, Yamamoto!" he shouted, dashing off with his guardians behind him.

~~~~~~~.

I'm so sorry we're late, Reborn! We got held-"

"Shut up and sit down. We don't have time for excuses." Reborn said sternly_. The other guardians were already there, even Hibari... Wait... That navy coloured hair... The familiar hairstyle and different coloured eyes... That creepy grin... Mukuro?_

_What was he doing here?_ "M-Mukuro? I-I... But!... Vindice!... How…"

"Stop blabbering, Dame-Tsuna. Mukuro, explain." Reborn sighed_. Really, Tsuna just HAD to retain his stupidity and blabbering when he came to this timeline, didn't he?_

"Kufufu... I went through the portal as well. Just after all of you dived in." Mukuro said as he leaned against the cream coloured wall beside Chrome, staring at the now young Decimo with his red and blue eyes.

Tsuna just sighed and sat down between his Rain and Storm guardian. _Oh well, I guess this could be an advantage for us…_

"Kufufu… I still haven't given up on taking over your body…" Mukuro chuckled.

… _Nevermind._

"The Scuro Vampa in this timeline should still be in the process of inventing their secret weapon and if what Kyohei said about the blood incident is true, then a candidate would not have been made yet. It is the Vongola Council that I am more worried about. That Kyohei didn't even give a name or anything and I still can't find out who he is yet..."

Tsuna frowned as he processed the information. Somehow, he had this feeling that things weren't going to go according to plan and in fact, they were about to dive into something much deeper. Could he be worrying too much? His Hyper Intuition was really reliable though and it had proven itself worthy many times over. What would they do? What _could_ they do?

"We will just have to observe and gather more information. This situation cannot be rushed through. Hey Tsuna."

"Huh, yeah?" Tsuna said, looking up from his daydreaming.

"Were you even paying attention? Anyway, I want to know if you still have your Armonia Famiglia subordinates' number."

_My subordinates?..._ He thought for a while before it finally clicked that Reborn was referring to Tsukiyo, Deimos and Aaron. "Eh? I might have it... Why?"

"Since they're assassins and one of them is an excellent information broker, we should seek their assistance. Of course, the Vongola will pay them well so they shouldn't turn down the wonderful offer down." Reborn smirked.

" B-But won't they be suspicious if we just go right up to them and ask them? We're not supposed to know that they're assassins..."

Reborn rolled his eyes and kicked Tsuna's shin. "The _mafias_ should know that they are assassins!"

Tsuna winced a little and quickly took out his phone. "Okay okay... No need to use violence here...-"

"Oh the irony."

The brunet just rolled his eyeballs and punched in Tsukiyo's number. "H-Hello? Is this Tsu- Kagehane Tsukiyo-san?"

"Whhhuuuuuut?..." a male drunken voice replied. _Oh boy_. "What 'chu waaan... Little missy... I... Ain't some missy sound cuuuutee~ Yooou waaaant-" click.

Tsuna hung up abruptly with a look of confusion and embarrassment on his face. There was a pregnant pause in the room as the conversation was on speaker mode. Mukuro smirked while the others had a blank look on their faces. Hibari just rolled his eyeballs and sat further away. Lambo tried to stifle a laugh and had a hand clamped over his mouth. Keyword? Tried.

Lambo's eyes watered and soon he burst out, "Bwahahaha! Baka-Tsuna! Ahahaha! Girly voice! Bwahahaha!" He rolled on the floor, laughing uncontrollably.

"Sooo... Wrong number?" Yamamoto asked, giving a nervous smile.

Tsuna was puzzled. He checked the number once again and found that it was correct."I-Impossible... I didn't make any mistakes... Let me try Deimos' number!"

"Yo? What's up yo? You're R-" click.

"Erm... Erm... Aaron's number then..."

"Ni hao! Ni zai zhao she ne?-"

_Oh my god, what's happening? This shouldn't happen right?_ "Reborn? What's going on? I mean, if we just went back in time, not a parallel world, shouldn't everything remain as it was?..." Tsuna was getting worried. Even though this seemed like a small issue, it would escalate into something worse since things were going... Not normal. Oh look! More irony!

Reborn pondered for a moment before looking up. "There are many possible reasons for this phenomenon. First is, they died-"

"But the future doesn't affect the past!" Tsuna interrupted.

"Let me finish my sentence, baka. As I was saying, they might have died near the machine and it may have malfunctioned somehow, twisting their space and time, destroying them in the past, present and future. That means… Irie and Shoichi don't exist in this time either considering that they were in close proximity with the machine." Tsuna visibly paled but was_ kindly_ ignored by Reborn who just continued, "The second reason might be that we were really transported to another parallel world which is very similar to our timeline... And you getting that simple math question correct might just be a lovely coincidence."

"H-Hey!"

"Third reason. The Scuro Vampa had a hand in this. They could have tampered with the machine and caused us to go off track."

"Kufufu..." came a creepy laughter in which everyone turned to face the male Mist guardian. "You have yet to hear my testimony."

"This is not a court case, you pineapple freak!" Gokudera fumed, slamming a fist on the poor, unfortunate table. Mukuro's eye twitched but chose to ignore Gokudera.

"Maa maa... Let's just hear Mukuro-san out!" Yamamoto said kindly, his smile never wavering.

Reborn looked at Mukuro curiously and smirked. "Yes, pray, tell us."

Basking in the attention Mukuro was getting (and also ignoring the insult from Gokudera), he proudly reported, "When I was about to enter the portal, I saw some people hiding in the shadows. There were about two or three people, I think. What I do know, is that there was more than one person and they were most likely from the Scuro Vampa. My mind wasn't very clear at that moment."

"That was really helpful! Like hell we know-" Gokudera wanted to continue but a hand covered his mouth, forcing him to shut up. _Let go, baseball freak! I was trying to-_

Reborn frowned and spoke, "Actually... That is somewhat useful... And also somewhat disturbing. They might have entered the portal without us knowing and they could be planning against us this very moment. If they really did something to the machine, we wouldn't know how much damage has been done."

Tsuna was ready to faint right about now. His throat felt dry and no sound came out. Not even his trademark shriek. There was no end to this madness, was there? All that sounded like intelligent crap and really, each was more absurd than the other. "S-So... Does that mean we're... We're doomed?" Tsuna said hoarsely, squeezing out each word. Every path they took seemed to be wrong and it usually led them into greater trouble. He took a quick glance at his guardians before lowering his head. Was he worthy to be their boss? After all, he was pretty much a failure at everything. Now that this… has happened, nothing felt right anymore. There was an intruder in the Vongola, and there still is, their base was destroyed and worst of all, his guardians- his friends, almost died.

"Don't beat yourself over this. We've gone through this and probably worse before, and I don't want to repeat myself. If you want to beat yourself, I'll gladly do it for you." Reborn smirked.

The Decimo's eyes widened and waved his hands frantically in front of him. "No thanks!"

"Juudaime! Don't worry! I'll always follow you no matter what decision you make!" His right-hand man proclaimed, an eager-to-please look on his face as he inched closer to Tsuna.

Yamamoto nodded. "Yeap! We'll all be fine! After all, we trusted you to come back and you did!"

"I'll only follow strong herbivores." Hibari stated, not even making eye contact with Tsuna. _I guess that means he acknowledges me then..._

"Kufufufu... I only want to possess the body of a strong Tsunayoshi..." _Erm... Mukuro's being nice... In a creepy way..._

Chrome just smiled kindly while Lambo ran round the room shouting "Tsuna can do it! Tsuna can kick their butts!"

"Shut up, stupid cow! Stop acting like such a child!"

"But Gokudera, he _is_ a chi-"

"You shut up too, baseball freak!"

Tsuna gave a relieved sigh as he watched the scene in front. _Yeah, I have my friends... I missed them so much during my time with the Armonia...Still, I really hope nothing happened to Tsukiyo and the others…_

"So, tenth Vongola boss, what are your orders?"

"We need to gather information from them somehow and we'll plan from there, okay?" Tsuna said, watching his guardians nodding.

Unknown to them was an ominous presence nearby.

_Enjoy while you can, Sawada Tsunayoshi~ Your downfall is near!_

* * *

><p><strong>Hello! So sorry for the late update! :( I meant to upload this MUCH earlier but a fever beat me to it! Gr. Heh, teenage Tsuna and guardians :D<strong>

**I know this is going slow but the pace will pick up... Eventually. Haha, don't worry, there will be some action and the reappearance of the Armonia trio in later chapters!**

**Do you want to see Tsukiyo, Deimos and Aaron have some action with weapons and all as well? Or just Tsuna and his family fight? Just wanted to know if I should add it in since I haven't written their parts yet. :/**

**Anyway, thanks for reading and do drop a review~! :)**


	11. Another appearance

**_Another appearance_**

_Enjoy while you can, Sawada Tsunayoshi~ Your downfall is near!_

"Tsu-kun! Are your friends having lunch here again?" Nana shouted from the kitchen.

"Yes! Thanks!" Tsuna replied. It was the second week of the summer holidays which meant no school. It also meant that Reborn would gather his guardians once every few days for a special meeting. However, this scene was different that before, considering that they were actually 20-year-olds in 15-year-old bodies so there wasn't too much immature bickering involved… Not too much…

"So now, we-" Reborn's statement was cut short by the loud ring of the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" Nana said. Shortly after a few muffled exchanges, Nana called out, "Tsuna! There's a cute girl here looking for you!~"

"Wh-What?" Tsuna's eyes widened. _I don't remember any girl!_

"Wow, way to go Tsuna!" Yamamoto cheered, patting Tsuna on the shoulder.

Before anyone could say anything else (especially Reborn who definitely had a lot to say at that moment), Tsuna dashed out of the room.

"Ah! It's you!" Tsuna exclaimed when he saw a blond haired girl at the doorstep, smiling ever so sweetly at him. She was kind of cute, with her blond curly hair and her frilly, yellow dress. In fact, she looked like a middle schooler.

Gokudera and Yamamoto's curiosity got the better of them as they went down to check out the "cute girl" Nana was talking about.

"Those two too!" the girl exclaimed, pointing to the two guardians who were walking down the stairs. "Thank you so much for getting back my purse!"

"What the hell? She actually searched for us just to thank us? Crazy kid." Gokudera mumbled.

"Aw, that's really thoughtful!" Yamamoto said, grinning away as usual.

"Why don't you stay for lunch! The more the merrier after all!" Nana chirped as she pulled her into the house.

Tsuna's jaw dropped. "What?" _we barely know her!... Wait... This happened when Reborn came too... Urgh..._

Gokudera's eye twitched._ Not_ _just anyone can eat with juudaime!_

Reborn stood at the top stairs, observing the scene. "I guess this means the meeting will have to be held another day." The others got up and left.

"Hm? Your friends aren't staying?"

Tsuna glanced at guardians who were exiting through the front door and shook his head. "They have erm... Something to do!"

"Ne ne~ Tsuna-kun? Can I call you that? Oh, wait! I want to just call you Tsuna! Tsuna!" the little girl said, playfully, as she twirled a few strands of her golden hair round her finger and staring intently at Tsuna.

"Erm... Yeah sure... So what's your name?"

"My name is Miko Be- Miko Beruka!" she answered with a slight pause. "You can call me Miko!"

Nana strolled out of the kitchen, carrying some plates. "Miko-chan? How old are you?"

"Hehe, secret! Oh yes, I just remembered something! I have to go now, bye bye~!" Miko said, cheerfully as she skipped out of the door, her fingers brushing against Tsuna which resulted in shivers sent down his spine. _What was that feeling?_

"Don't touch juudaime so intimately! Stupid brat!" Gokudera shouted in a threatening manner_. I don't like her one bit!_

"D-Don't worry about it, Gokudera... It was probably an accident!"

Yamamoto nodded his head and slung an arm round Tsuna's shoulder "Tsuna's right! Let's not overreact over these minor situations!"

The remaining two weeks soon flew by and it was time… Time to go back to school.

"Good morning, class! We have a new student today! Please welcome Miko Beruka!" the teacher said as he ushered in Miko. Her curly, blond hair was tied up into a ponytail and her small stature made her seem more like a middle school student rather than a high school student.

"Hello everybody! I'm Miko Beruka but you can call me Miko-chan! I hope to make lots of friends here!" she chirped, tilting her head slightly. That minor action immediately made the boys in the class wide awake and they started to chatter among themselves. "Let's form a fanclub for her!" and "Oh no! Kyoko is about to lose to that cute shorty!" were some of the things that were murmured. Miko soon took her seat which was about two seats behind Tsuna and gave him a smile when he turned around. Tsuna returned a nervous smile and quickly turned back.

During lunch, the trio as usual, went to the rooftop for lunch and as soon as they sat down, Yamamoto started to chatter. "Hey, Tsuna! I think Miko likes you!" he said with a grin.

Tsuna, who was drinking his juice peacefully, immediately choked. "Wh-What? N-No way!"

"Don't spout such rubbish! That stupid child could never be the wife of the great future Vongola boss!" Gokudera retorted, glaring at the Rain guardian.

"Gokudera!"

Yamamoto just laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I was just saying!"

"Ciaossu." Reborn greeted as he landed onto Tsuna's head from god-knows-where. "I did some researching and I'm afraid the situation isn't as pretty as it seems right now."

"What's going on?... " Tsuna asked hesitantly, placing his juice box on the ground. From the corner of his eye, he could see Gokudera tense up and Yamamoto didn't look as relaxed anymore.

Reborn continued, "Turns out that some members of the Scuro Vampa did manage to come back with us to this time and as we speak, they're probably going to hasten their plans in creating their new power of some sort." There was a deafening silence as the Decimo and his guardians processed the information that Reborn had just given them. Was it really worth it? He had left three of his Armonia Famiglia friends, Giannini, Irie, and Spanner behind in the future. They had sacrificed themselves just to send them to the past to change it but now that their plans had been rudely changed because of those Scuro Vampa members. Was it worth coming to the past when the risk could be equal or maybe greater than staying in the future?

Reborn sighed as he saw Tsuna knit his brows and the other two shifting uncomfortably on the hard concrete. _Dame-Tsuna really thought too much, didn't he?_ "Don't look so glum. There's still some good news, I think."

"Oh really? What else could be good?" Tsuna replied coldly, his chin resting on his hand as he rolled his eyes.

"You've grown bold, Dame-Tsuna. My reputation has been tarnished as the world's best tutor. Sigh, I'm so hurt, kid." Came the monotonic reply.

"Kid? I'm a twenty year old stuck in a fifteen year old body, for goodness sake!" an exasperated Tsuna cried out, throwing up his arms for some extra dramatic effect. "Right, the good news. What is it?"

"Your three Armonia comrades. They made it." Reborn said with a smirk. Tsuna's eyes widened, unable to believe what his Spartan tutor just told him_. Then why didn't the phone numbers work?_ "Looks like I was right. We might actually have gone into a similar parallel world… And your math question that you got correct was actually a fluke-"

Tsuna quickly interjected, "Okay, okay, I get the point!"

"The phone numbers probably wouldn't work since this isn't the same past as the one we've lived through. In fact, they might not even be in Reshun town or even Japan. It would be good if we could find them and get their help." Reborn explained, crossing his small arms. "So, dame-Tsuna, what do you think we should do?"

Tsuna pondered for a moment before giving a determined look. "We'll go look for them. Only then, will we start the planning against the Scuro Vampa."

"Yes, juudaime!"

"Cool plan, Tsuna!" Yamamoto cheered, patting him on the back.

_Yeah, go ahead, find your stupid comrades! Do you really think you can stop us so easily? Even if you put up a fight, we can easily crush you… _The figure gave a sly grin and disappeared into the shadows.

Reborn looked up. _What was that?_ He felt something or someone nearby but he couldn't detect it. Soon, lunch was over and they made their way back to class.

"Hello, Tsuna! Welcome back!" Miko greeted. The atmosphere in the class suddenly became cold as majority of the boys turned to glare at Tsuna.

"Uh… H-Hi?..." Tsuna replied nervously. _Oh boy… _Gokudera on the other hand, was giving a more menacing glare and some vulgar gestures, effectively shutting up most of the boys. The day went by smoothly and the day was peaceful and normal… Almost.

Tsuna and his two guardians were walking back home as usual when suddenly they heard gunshots. Yamamoto quickly took out his katana and deflected the bullets while Gokudera threw his dynamites in the direction of where the bullets came from. Tsuna dodged a few and went into his hyper dying will mode, using his hyper intuition to detect his attackers. _What the?... I can't detect them exactly… Ah, got one!_ "Gokudera! Enemy at three o clock!" The Storm guardian immediately turned and threw a few sticks of dynamites and it exploded near an alley. The shootings stopped and Tsuna dashed towards the alley. He heard a few groans, followed by some curses. Tsuna fanned the smoke away and Gokudera stepped forward to grab the collar of the gunman.

"Who do you work for? The fucking Scuro Vampa? What are your intentions? To kill juudaime?" Gokudera demanded, shaking the already half deaf man.

"Y-Yes!... B-Boss wanted… NO! I-I… I cannot betray him! I live for the Scuro Vampa! I'd rather d-die than go back in shame! The Scuro Vampa will prevail!" With that said, he took out a syringe and jabbed himself. Within a few seconds, he went limp and the syringe dropped from his hand to the ground. Gokudera dropped him onto the floor and knelt down to feel his pulse.

"Juudaime, he's gone." Gokudera said, grimly.

Yamamoto and Tsuna looked at each other and turned back their attention to the lifeless body. "I can't believe he just took his own life like that… Such dedication… is foolish." Tsuna said, his fists clenching tightly. Gokudera stood up and placed a comforting hand onto the Decimo's shoulder. "Juudaime…" Yamamoto patted Tsuna's shoulder and picked up the syringe which still had a few drops of the pale green liquid inside. "You'll need this right?"

Tsuna nodded and pocketed it. "Let's go. Be on your guard, okay?" The two Vongola guardians agreed and they walked back home in silence.

_Ehehe, I would have killed that idiot if he actually told our plans to them~ Heh, good doggy~! _The same figure from before gave a grin, disappearing into the shadows once more.

-Somewhere in Italy-

"Boss! We are ready! The synchronisation with M-sama is at 100%! When would you like to leave for Japan?" a mafioso asked.

The boss of the Scuro Vampa sat at his desk in his dark room, grinning to himself as he took a sip of his wine. "No… I have something very important to do… Something the Vongola will surely enjoy… Prepare those who have the implants! We'll be paying a surprise visit to the Vongola…"

"Yes sir." Answered the Mafioso as he turned to leave.

"Master… Are you sure that the 'visit' to the Vongola is a wise decision? After all-"

"Do you doubt me, Alon?" Lorenzo asked, turning to face his right-hand man.

"No, of course not, boss. It is just that they are the strongest-"

Lorenzo put up a hand to silence him. "WE will be the strongest. With our new power, nothing can stop us! Their flame will be no match to us and we will destroy them, and after that… The entire Mafia world." He threw back his head and started to laugh maniacally while Alon stood beside him with a stiff expression. "We'll have them groveling at my feet! Hahaha!"

-Back in Namimori, Japan-

"Reborn! We were attacked just now!" Tsuna reported as he stepped through the door of his house.

Reborn had a solemn look on his face, his tiny arms crossed. "We were attacked here too. A gunman tried to kill mama but the stupid yet useful Lambo managed to trip and fling a grenade at him."

"Eh? How's mama?" Tsuna asked worriedly. Reborn just pointed towards the kitchen where Nana was humming and cooking, oblivious to her surroundings. Tsuna and the others let off a sigh of relief and turned back to Reborn. "Oh yeah, we found this in one of the assassin's possession." Tsuna took out the almost empty syringe and handed it to Reborn. "He used this to kill himself when he didn't want to say anything about the Scuro Vampa's plan." The Sun arcobaleno frowned as he took it and examined it.

"I'll get it checked. In the mean time, figure out a plan to find your Armonia subordinates. We don't have much time left."

* * *

><p><strong>Once again, I meant to update a little earlier but going for the schools' open houses took up a lot of time and much of the leftover time was used to worry and panic over my results which came out just fine! :)<strong>

**No, there's no romance in this story! That new OC (oh god, another one?) might help them or go against them but I'm not saying it for now~**

**Oh and thank you to _Tsuna fan 4 Cn4s_, my annonymous reviewer! Your review really made my day (or week)!**

**Thanks for reading and do review! ^^**

**PS, why isn't my underline function working? Everyone else's works just fine! Grr.**


	12. For Reshun Town, from attacks

**For Reshun Town, from attacks**

"We leave for Reshun town in two days. Is that alright?" Tsuna asked his guardians who were gathered around him in his house. They agreed and got up to prepare their things.

-Two days ago-

_Hmph. More annoying herbivores._ Hibari thought to himself as he laid on the rooftop of Namimori High with Hibird on his chest. He sensed a hostile presence nearby and got up. With a swing of his tonfa, the chain at the end shot out and hit the masked man behind him, knocking him off the rooftop. Suddenly, more of them jumped out and started to attack Hibari with daggers, each having a different flame element. However, only one of them had an unusual flame coating. A black flame.

Without hesitation, Hibari charged at them with his tonfas, knocking them out with barely any effort. _Tch, how weak can these herbivores be? I guess I'll just bite all of them to death. _He looked around and saw the bodies on the ground but wait, one was missing. All of a sudden, a force struck the disciplinary leader from behind as he was about to turn around. He crashed to the ground but stood up immediately, wiping a drop of blood away, smirking.

"Hebivore. You had better be worth my time." Hibari growled, tightening his grip on his tonfas as the black flame wielder wordlessly took a step forward and disappeared. The Cloud guardian went on guard and took a step back. _How did he disappear like that?... _He quickly pivoted round on his heel and blocked a stab with his tonfa. "Got you." Hibari muttered as spikes protruded from his tonfas. He raised it and brought it down hard onto the assailant's head and a sickening crack could be heard. The flame on the dagger started to dissipate and Hibari quickly took out his phone to take a picture of it. After that he dialled a number and tapped his foot impatiently.

"Kusukabe, the rooftop needs cleaning." He said.

"Yes sir," came the reply and hung up. Hibari took one more look at the masked man and smirked.

"I'm not as weak as I was five years ago. Cross my path and I will bite you to death." With that said, he turned to leave.

~~~~~~~.

-In Kokuyo-

"Kufufu… Do you really think you can hurt us?" Mukuro summoned more vines made out of illusions and used them to strangle the masked men to death.

"If our boss wants us to then we will!" one of them shouted. That particular one had black flames coating his fists. He jumped over the boxes and threw a punch at the vines that were coming towards him, completely destroying the illusions. Mukuro frowned. _How could he destroy my illusions so easily?My-_

"Ah! M-Mukuro-sama!"

Mukuro quickly turned to the direction of the cry and dashed towards it. "Nagi!"

He swung his trident at the masked man, the sharp prongs slashing into the man's abdomen. The masked man quickly sidestepped and threw a punch from a distance away. A black ball of flame formed from his fist and shot out towards the illusionist.

Mukuro's eyes narrowed dangerously as the ball of flame came closer and closer. Mist flames covered his trident and he slammed it down onto the ground, cracks appearing from the cement and within seconds, red, hot lava blasted out and went for the ball of flame. It hardened and slowed down when in contact with the lava and when it was nearer to Mukuro, he swung his trident once more, effectively breaking it.

The masked man frowned and was preparing to throw another punch when the Mist guardian came from behind and stabbed the man. "Kufufu… Hurt Nagi or anyone else and you won't live to see tomorrow…" After making sure that none of the assailants got away and were killed, Mukuro knelt down beside Chrome and examined the cut on her arm. "Hm, nothing too serious. Good job on taking them down."

"T-Thank you, Mukuro-sama…" she replied meekly.

"Mukuro-sama! We took care of those downstairs already, byon!" Ken shouted as he and Chikusa ran towards them.

"Good work, everyone." Mukuro stood up and went towards the dead man whose fists no longer have the black flames. _Scuro Vampa… What have you been up to?_

~~~~~~~.

"TRAINING TO THE EXTREME!" Ryohei shouted as he ran through the streets of Namimori, leaving in his wake, a large cloud of dust.

All of a sudden, black flames erupted in front of him, halting the boxer abruptly in his tracks. Some men jumped out from the smoke and started to attack Ryohei who quickly blocked the hits and countered them with his own. Most of them were knocked down easily with a sun flame-filled punch and an uppercut from Ryohei. As a masked man crept up from behind with a knife, Ryohei swiftly turned around and threw a punch.

"Maximum cannon!" he shouted as the Mafioso was sent flying into the sky. "What a great workout!" he cheered loudly as he continued his running.

~~~~~~~.

-Present-

"All of us have been attacked so I guess that means we have to act faster." Tsuna explained to his guardians. "We need find our three comrades and get their help. I have a feeling that the Scuro Vampa have much more trump cards and may use it against us soon…"

"Why do we need their help? Are we not capable enough to seek out the information? They're outsiders! The Vongola is already as messed up as it can be!" Gokudera questioned.

"They can find the information much faster since they're professionals, and they were part of the Armonia which is also my family, I trust them. What we need is time but unfortunately, it is not on our side. We can't do everything by ourselves, Gokudera…" Tsuna reasoned, looking sadly at his Storm guardian who apologised softly.

A stiff silence hung in air as the guardians looked at one another unsure of their next move. At this point, the Scuro Vampa was unpredictable. They had barely any information about them and until now, they still had no idea what they were up to.

"I have some bad new everyone," Reborn said as he appeared out of nowhere, landing onto Tsuna's head.

"R-Reborn! Did you find out anything?"

The Sun arcobaleno tilted his fedora a little. "Yes, and it's not very pleasant." He paused and glanced at the guardians before continuing, "The liquid in the syringe… It was a formula made by the Vongola and only for the Vongola to use… It wasn't supposed to be distributed."

"What?" Tsuna exclaimed, his eyes widening in surprise. "You mean… They have already been watching us this early already?"

"Don't interrupt. The formula was not made in this time; it was made four years in the future… It seems that they did come back in time with us and with the Vongola's secrets in their hands."

A collective gasp was heard while Tsuna pinched the bridge of his nose. _This actually seems like the Scuro Vampa have already won half the battle…_

"Juudaime! I'm so sorry! I'm really, really sorry! ..." Gokudera apologised as he knelt down in front of the Decimo, kowtowing. "I have failed as your right-hand man- "

"Gokudera? What's wrong?" Tsuna asked, trying to pull the Storm guardian up.

"I… I was the one was overseeing that project… But! ... But it wasn't supposed to kill the enemy… It was just supposed to knock the enemy out for a period of time even though that... That stupid Ryumin Kyohei wanted otherwise… I knew you wouldn't like it so I disobeyed him, but why did it turn out like that? … I'm very sorry!- "

"G-Gokudera! Please get up! It's not your fault! No one knew this would happen! They probably tweaked the formula or something, so please…" Gokudera reluctantly got up but kept his head down.

Reborn sighed and sat down on the table. "Like what Tsuna said the other day, time is not on our side now, we need to act fast-"

"Tsuuuuuuunaaaaaaaaaa!~" a female voice squealed out. Hibari rolled his eyes and got up to leave.

"I'm not sticking around with that noisy herbivore around." He said, opening the window and jumping out.

"I think she's as cute as Kyoko!" Ryohei shouted, grinning as he thought of his little sister.

"We will take our leave as well… See you soon, Tsunayoshi." Mukuro said as he and Chrome disappeared into the mist. "Bye bossu…"

Yamamoto watched as the Cloud and Mist guardians leave and got up himself. "Maybe we should leave too-"

"Why is everyone leaving?..." Miko said softly as she opened the door. "Do you guys find me annoying?..."

"Yes, actu-"

"No, of course not! We just happened to leave at the same time when you came! It was pure coincidence!" Tsuna explained nervously, shooting a glare at Gokudera.

"O-Okay…" she sniffed. "Oh well, time for me to go!"

"But… Didn't you just arrive?"

Miko just smiled and hopped off. "I just came to say hello! Anyway… You're a really, really nice person, Tsunaaaaa~"

Tsuna and his two guardians sweat dropped. "That imp is seriously whacked!" Gokudera commented angrily.

"Maa, maa. Let's not get worked up over small issues. I guess we should get going then! See 'ya, Tsuna!" Yamamoto dragged Gokudera out and left for home. Ryohei left as well, shouting something like Kyoko was cooking dinner.

The Decimo slumped in his seat and sighed. "Looks like we'll be missing school huh?"

"I'll arrange for that. After all this is over, you can be sure to have extra tuition… From me." Reborn smirked, pushing up his fedora.

_Oh joy._

~~~~~~~.

"Father? You called?" Kyohei said meekly as he pushed opened the large door to his father's office.

"Yes… I did." Lorenzo replied, as he stared at his son, a small frail boy. Both continued to remain silent and the only sound in the room was the sound of Kyohei shuffling his foot nervously.

"You are of no use to me anymore." Lorenzo finally said. Kyohei's eyes widened in surprise and fear.

"Wh-What do you mean? I… I was supposed to infiltrate the Vongola for you!... Right? I… You know, like Uncle who-"

"Shut up, boy! I know what will happen in the future… And you. You are a liability to my plans! You know what that means, boy?"

The teen shook his head vigorously and continued to look down at his feet. _Please don't say it… Please don't say it… _

"You are utterly useless, do you know that?" he continued, ignoring his trembling son in front of him. "Your sister, on the other hand, has been marvellous! The synchronisation was at a hundred percent but for you? A mere twenty-four percent! Absolutely useless!" he spat, slamming his fist down on the mahogany desk, causing Kyohei to flinch. "You're the older one yet you cannot even accomplish a single thing! Now, why would I want a son like that? What is my motto?"

"O-Only keep t-the best… A-And dis… Discard all… F-Failures…" he croaked out, a tear running down his cheek.

"And that means… You will die. Goodbye, redundant insect." Lorenzo took out his gun, aimed it at his son's chest and pulled the trigger. Kyohei gasped and fell to the ground, lifeless with tears in his eyes.

"Sir," Alon called out. "Don't you think that was a little too harsh?..."

"Be quiet, or you're next." Lorenzo growled. "Clean up that mess. I don't want to see it when I come back." He ordered, stepping over the body and walking out of the room as if nothing had happened.

~~~~~~~.

-Two days later at the train station-

"Wheee! We're going to ride on a train! We're going to ride on a traaaaaain! Bwahahahaha!" Lambo shouted.

"Will you just shut up? Grow up, stupid cow!" Gokudera grumbled, grabbing Lambo by his hair.

"Bleah!" Lambo stuck out his tongue. "I might as well act like a five-year old since I'm in a body of one, stupid octopus head!"

"Why you little f-"

"Gokudera!"

"S-Sorry juudaime…" Lambo gave the Storm guardian a triumphant look and dashed to Chrome's side.

Tsuna sighed and pointed towards the train station. "Let's go. The train is about to set off any moment now…" _This feels so much like déjà vu again…_ Tsuna thought.

"No thanks to that idiot turf-head who decided that he had to finish his run first." Gokudera mumbled.

A shadow watched them from afar, a sly smirk creeping onto its face. _You really think your so-called "plan" will work? We have every advantage over you and you have nothing on us~ _

Tsuna turned around, scanning the area. "Hey, Reborn?... Do you get the feeling that we're being watched?"

The infant nodded and brought his voice down to a whisper. "We shouldn't interfere yet… We're not ready."

~~~~~~~.

The train ride was a relatively peaceful one if you shut out some noisy quarrelling between some of his guardians. Tsuna tore his eyes away from the scenery outside the window and looked around. _Strange… We're the only ones on this carriage…_

"That's because I booked the entire carriage just for us." Reborn said with an innocent smile. "The Vongola has to travel in class, you know? Can't have the normal people interrupt or eavesdrop on us."

"You what?" Tsuna's eyes widened. _What happened to the 'lay low and don't let people know the Vongola crap and stuff? _"Urgh, never mind."

Tsuna straightened his back and his eyes scanned the front of the carriage, smiling as he spotted Hibari right at the front, away from the group. The Decimo inched out of his seat and went to the front and plopped himself down on the seat beside Hibari.

"Herbivore," he acknowledged, opening his eyes sleepily without looking at the uninvited guest. "What do you want?"

"The future is so uncertain…With these recent attacks, I can't even think properly…" Tsuna trailed off, a frown marring his face.

The Cloud guardian turned to face Tsuna and stared into his brown eyes. "Then don't think."

"H-Huh?..."

"Your gut feel. That Hyper Intuition you have? Follow that then. Don't let your mind be clouded with useless thoughts, they make you weak. After all, I still expect a fight from you."

Tsuna let out a soft chuckle and got up to return to his seat. "Thank you, Hibari…"

"Hn. Don't let us down… Omnivore." Hibari mumbled.

**Hello awesome readers! Once again, I had meant to update much earlier but I was sooooo busy =_= And school hasn't even started yet! To think I had more free time when I'm in school LOL. It's not because there were less reviews this time. Really. Serious. HAHAHA, I'll try to update faster this time!**

**Okay, about Miko, the very annoyingly bubbly OC. Good or bad? Can't say yet!**

**Heh, tiny bit of action here! It's been a while since I wrote action scenes so please forgive me! There will be action in the next chapter too!**

**Hibari-Tsuna interaction FTW. XD **

**Btw, Happy Chinese New Year to everyone! Having the reunion dinner tomorrow so I took this chance to update~**

**Oh oh thank you _Tsuna 4 Cn4s_ for reviewing my other dead fic... I feel really glad that it wasn't a failure but now I don't know if I want to continue it or use the plot for a story that I plan to write on fictionpress...**

**Thanks for reading and review! :D**


	13. Disappointment

**Disappointment**

"We're finally here!" Yamamoto cheered, stretching his arms and legs as he got off the train. The rest of the guardians got off as well and Tsuna was the last.

"So… Should we find them or find accommodations first?" Tsuna asked Reborn who just smirked.

"I've already settled our accommodations at a hotel nearby. Let's go." Reborn said, jumping onto Tsuna's head.

As they made their way towards the hotel, a pair of familiar amethyst-coloured eyes followed them. "Sawada… Tsunayoshi…"

~~~~~~~.

"So erm… Room arrangements?" Tsuna said as he stared at the bunch of keys in his hand. "Two per room right?..."

Gokudera immediately shouted, "I'll sleep with juudaime! As his right-hand man, I will protect him!"

There was a brief silence till Mukuro spoke up. "Kufufu… You have no idea how wrong that first part of your sentence sounds…" Chrome blushed and looked up at her master.

Gokudera soon realised what the pineapple idiot was implying and tried to attack him. "How dare you say that you damned pervert! Go to hell!"

"Been there, done that~" Mukuro retorted calmly, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't extremely understand!"

"You fu-"

"Gokudera… Please don't make a scene… Mukuro… Act your age." Tsuna sighed.

"Oya? But I am-"

"Your real age! Not your body age!" Tsuna pinched the bridge of his nose and thought for a moment. _Can't mix Mukuro and Hibari together or they'll kill each other, mixing Gokudera and Yamamoto would probably end up in a one-sided quarrel… Never mind, Gokudera quarrels with everyone…_ "I have decided! Chrome and Lambo will room together, Ryohei and… Mukuro-"

"Excuse me?" Mukuro's eye twitched. "With that… Noisy one?"

_This is more stressful than I thought…_ "Would you rather room with Lambo?"

Mukuro turned to look at the child who was picking his nose and drooling. "Maybe not. How about rooming with you-"

"Moving on, Yamamoto will room with Gokudera and I will room with Hibari."

"Juudaime!-"

"NO. The rooms are finalised." Tsuna said sternly. _How old are they?It's just rooms!_

Reborn jumped off Tsuna's head. "How about me?"

"I assumed that you had your own room… Right?" _Why would an egoistic hitman like you want to share a room?_

"Very clever, dame-Tsuna. Well, I'll be going to my room first."

The Decimo let out a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. "We'll unpack and meet back at the lobby in ten minutes, okay?" Tsuna distributed the keys and they made their way to their rooms which were beside one another.

Ten minutes later, the guardians were gathered at the lobby and Tsuna sat them down. "By now, school should have ended but I want Yamamoto and Gokudera to check it out. Chrome and Ryohei, I need you to search east of Reshun town. Mukuro, I'm counting on you to search the west side alone. Hibari will take the south and Lambo and I will search their homes and the shop. Remember, do not, I repeat, do not engage them in a fight. I want this to be as peaceful as possible. Try your best to bring them here. Any objections?" No one spoke a word as they nodded grimly, after which they left on their separate ways. Tsuna remained rooted and brought up his hand with the Vongola ring, shutting his eyes. Lambo watched Tsuna who was concentrating deeply, in awe. The Thunder guardian felt a warm aura emitting from the Decimo as the ring started to glow softly. _Tsuna has really become stronger… Incredible!… I… I have to train harder!_

As Tsuna concentrated, he could feel the different flame attributes moving. His guardians' flames. It was like a tracking device which relied on your flames. However, there was a problem. If there were many people with the same flame, it would be extremely difficult to differentiate them. Luckily for Tsuna, he had been trained by Tsukiyo and Aaron and now, thanks to the arduous training, he could figure out which were his comrades' flames and which were dummy or enemy flames. The brunette opened his eyes, a flicker of orange disappearing from them. "Let's go, Lambo!" he said with a smile and an outstretched hand. The child gladly took it and they left the hotel.

~~~~~~~.

"Great. How do we search this damn school? It's huge!" Gokudera complained, shoving his hands into his pockets. Heads were turned as soon as Gokudera and Yamamoto stepped foot into the school and girls started to squeal.

"Oh my god! Aren't they hot?"

"Kyaaaa! One of them looks like a foreigner!"

Being the extroverted guy that Yamamoto is, he gave his million-watt smile and a wave to them. Many dropped to the floor like flies and the rest were left screaming like fangirls at a concert. Gokudera got even more annoyed and punched Yamamoto lightly on the shoulder. "Stop attracting so much attention you idiot!" he growled softly, glaring at everyone he saw. _Pathetic girls_. "What are you looking at? Fastidiosi parassiti!"

"He's Italian! Oh my god!"

"Are they transfer students?"

_Seriously? Damn pricks! _Gokudera picked up his pace and dragged the Rain guardian along. "Hurry up! Or they'll start chasing us!"

"Ahaha," Yamamoto laughed casually. "Just like those parties that we had to go to for the Vongola last time!... Erm… In the future."

Gokudera clicked his tongue and cursed. "Enough of that crap! That was in the past!... Future… Tch, what the heck. We have to find those idiots!"

Yamamoto stopped in his tracks and thought for a while. "You know… It would be easier if we asked the students instead of searching around…"

"What the hell! Why didn't you say that earlier? Argh!" Stomping up to one of the first year male students, Gokudera grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him. "Where is Deimos and Tsukiyo? Hurry up!" he shouted.

The teen trembled in Gokudera's hands and violently shook his head. "I- I don't know!... I really, really d- don't know! I dunooooooo!..." Gokudera winced at his wailing and dropped him.

"YOU!" Gokudera said to the wailing student's companion, pointing a finger at him.

"Eh, EH? Me? Erm… I t-think I saw the girl leave an hour ago!...-"

"What about the other one?"

"In school! Somewhere in school!"

"Specifics DAMNIT!" he demanded, a threatening aura behind him.

"I-I really don't know!"

Gokudera was about to raise a fist when Yamamoto stepped in. "Maa, calm down. We'll just search for that one, okay? I'm sure the others will find them!"

The Italian exhaled deeply and turned around to enter the school. "Fine."

_Phew. Tsuna wouldn't be too happy if he knew Gokudera got into a fight_… "Thanks a lot for your help!" he said to the two traumatised students. "We should search their classes first, right?"

"Yeah, class 3-A." came the reply from Gokudera as he released another student from his grip.

_Oh man…Those students will probably remember us for life._ Yamamoto laughed nervously. "Right, let's go!" he said, following the Storm guardian towards the third years' classrooms.

"Gwaaah… I didn't think the Akuma duo would have foreign enemies!..." The student cried out, scrambling to get up and run.

_Yeap, really traumatised._

"Is Deimos or Tsukiyo here?" Gokudera asked.

"Eh… Deimos just left to settle some bullies and Tsukiyo has already left the school compounds about an hour ago…"

"Great. Where is he going to 'settle' the bullies?"

"Eh…" Deimos' classmate scratched his face. "Well, in mangas, it usually takes place behind the school…"

Gokudera face palmed, shaking his head while Yamamoto continued smiling and replied, "Thanks! We'll go check it out!"

"That dumb brat actually said that… Freaking otaku!" Gokudera grumbled. "This is not a manga!"

"Take it easy, Gokudera-"

"No we can't. Juudaime already stated that there isn't enough time! The Vongola is at risk and juudaime has already gone through enough-"

"Gokudera, look." Yamamoto whispered in a low voice. They had reached the back of the building and voices could be heard.

"Now, what did I tell you? Not to pick on the first year students, correct?" Deimos growled, roughly slamming the student against the wall. "You were making too much noise in the hallways and you nearly knocked into Tsukiyo. I won't be responsible for any of your broken bones."

"I'm sorry! I won't do it again!" the teen pleaded.

Deimos snorted. "That's what you said the last time, asshole." He punched him in the face and dropped him. "Ti avrei ucciso se fossimo in Italia."

"Hey," Gokudera shouted. "Deimos, right?"

"And who the hell are you? You two are not from this school." Deimos replied, watching the student run for his pitiful life from the corner of his eye.

Yamamoto stepped forward. "Eh… Could you come with us? We'll explain it later! We really need your help!"

Deimos just stared at them blankly and said, "No." he swiftly turned around and started to walk off. "Not gonna follow a bunch of strangers."

Gokudera held back an insult and looked at Yamamoto who just shrugged. He really can't remember us. _We can't force him to come with us either… Should we call Tsuna?_

The Italian shook his head and gave a furtive glance at Deimos who was almost out of sight. _We'll follow him._

~~~~~~~.

Hibari strongly disliked crowds. Oh wait, that would be an understatement. He absolutely _loathed _crowds. All that pushing and shoving, the rubbing of shoulders, and of course, the noise. Frankly, he would have bitten all to death if it weren't for that Tsunayoshi and that this town wasn't under him. As another herbivore bumped into him, Hibari had to fight back the urge to take out his tonfas and slam it against that herbivore's skull. Suddenly, a glint caught his eye and his instincts warned him to move back. As soon as he did, he managed to miss a stab of a dagger which was now inches away from his abdomen. The Cloud guardian's eyes narrowed and he started to give chase to his attacker who had escaped into the crowd.

Hibari's sharp eyes managed to spot the dagger-wielding man and made a beeline for him who had decided to escape through an alley.

"S-Sir! He saw me! I couldn't get him!- Ack!" the man fell to the ground when he was struck on the back by a tonfa.

"Hmph. A herbivore like you can never get me." Hibari was about to hit him again when another man appeared from behind. A chain from the end of the tonfa shot out and hit him, throwing him against the wall. The man groaned in pain, watching in fear as Hibari walked over to him and grabbed him. "Who sent you? The Scuro Vampa?" Hibari demanded.

The man kept silent, keeping his gaze up but not at Hibari. Hibari noticed it and quickly looked up, only to see a shadow flit past. "Damn," he cursed under his breath as he knocked out the man. Eyes scanning the area, the raven-haired teen made his way towards some boxes and jumped onto them. Using them as leverage, he managed to push himself up onto a small window ledge and jumped onto the roof. A sudden blast knocked him back a little and he brought up his tonfas to shield himself from the blow. "Scuro Vampa." He muttered.

"Vongola Decimo's Cloud guardian. Wish I could stay and chat but it's getting late! Ciao!" the man greeted, ready to run. His attire seemed different from the rest. He was dressed in a black suit with a grey dress shirt inside and a blood red tie with the Scuro Vampa insignia on it while all the others just wore normal suits without any other colour except grey.

Hibari ignored the stinging pain in his arm and charged forward, swinging the chains from his tonfas at the mafioso. It was blocked when he raised his hand, a large, black flame lighting up from his ring, coating his hand which deflected the chain. As Hibari got closer, he brought his tonfas up and slammed one of it down onto the mafioso's shoulder and the other to his stomach. The man fell to his knees, his arms wrapped round his stomach as he groaned in pain.

"Pathetic," Hibari said, kicking him down, stepping on his arm till a satisfying crack was heard when the man tried to light up his ring again. The sadistic skylark stared indifferently at the trembling Mafioso before him and a smirk crept onto his face. "I wonder what Tsunayoshi and the other herbivores will say about a hostage…"

~~~~~~~.

"Hm, where could they be?..." Mukuro wondered to himself as he strolled leisurely down an alley. A flash of blue disappeared round a corner and the illusionist's smirk grew wider. "There you are~" he followed her but when he rounded the corner, she was rounding yet another corner. This went on for a few minutes till Mukuro stopped in his tracks and scanned his surroundings. There were some alleys which lead to the main road and every time he checked, it was never the same one, even the people. He continued walking, discreetly making a mark on a wall. After another ten minutes, Mukuro knew something was up. The alleyways weren't that confusing and large and to think that he didn't even return to the same spot! Unless…

"Kufufufu… Illusions." His trident appeared in his hand and he swung it, making sure the prongs which were laced with a minute amount of mist flames, hit the wall. Sure enough, the wall crumbled, followed by the other walls and then his surroundings, revealing an empty park. Lush greenery surrounded him and a water fountain stood in the middle, behind Mukuro. There were benches around and on one, sat the blue-haired girl still in her school uniform.

The illusionist elegantly arched a brow and smirked. "Oya? To think that you could come up with such a strong illusion which took me quite a while to figure out… Of course, it wasn't too strong for me."

"At least I managed to waste more than twenty minutes of your life." She answered, pausing for a second before continuing. "Rokudo Mukuro, one of the strongest illusionists and Mist guardian to the Tenth Vongola family. What are you doing here?" she demanded coldly.

"Hello to you too, Tsukiyo. Hm, you don't remember anything from the future?"

"What? So you're a time traveller now?"

Mukuro sighed and shook his head. "Would you please follow me? The Decimo would like a word with you."

"Dream on. I have no intentions of mixing around with the mafia." She said as she turned to leave.

"Oh? So do I but you're an assassin. Still a part of the mafia world." Tsukiyo kept silent and continued glaring at the smirking illusionist. "Kufufu… I wouldn't even bother but since my _boss_ requested for it, I have an obligation to complete this task. Even if it means not using violence, unfortunately."

Tsukiyo folded her arms and turned around. "I never knew you were the type to be tied down by anything, especially the mafia. Gone soft, I see."

His heterochromatic eyes narrowed, and his grip on his trident tightened. "I still detest the mafia and I still plan on destroying it. But now is certainly not the right time."

"Whatever you say. Anyway, do pass this message to your boss," she went forward till she was close to Mukuro, a hand grabbing his wrist. "Tell him, I will not help him and neither will my friends. Got that?" she let go and stepped back, a mist appearing behind her. "See 'ya, fellow illusionist." After giving a small wave, she disappeared into the mist.

The Mist guardian was about to head back to the hotel when he felt something in his glove. Raising his hand, he found a piece of paper in his glove. "Oya? Paper?"

~~~~~~~.

"Searching to the EXTREME! Where could they be?" Ryohei shouted, giving Chrome no peace at all.

"R-Ryohei! Look over there!" Chrome said, pointing in the direction across the road. "Isn't he one of Bossu's friends?"

The Sun guardian turned to check it out and nodded. "Let's approach him! Come on!"

Ryohei dashed across the road with Chrome running hesitantly behind him. Deimos looked up and when he saw the two, he groaned and face palmed himself. _Great, more Vongola idiots._

"Hey you!" Ryohei shouted as he made his way towards Deimos. "You-"

Before he could finish his sentence, something exploded right beside him, knocking him over. A mafioso jumped out from the smoke, armed with a gun and started shooting bullets covered in black flames.

"Watch out!" Chrome shouted as Ryohei rolled on the ground to avoid the bullets. He quickly got to his feet and threw a sun flame-filled punch at the bullets. As his fist collided with it, the sun flames began to die out and even though the bullet became crushed and fell to the ground, the black flames burned his fist and died out after a few seconds. Ryohei let out a grunt and was about to repeat the move again when Deimos held him back. A spear appeared in his hand, storm flames lacing the head of it. He swung it in an arc and the moment the storm flames came into contact with the bullets, the red and black flames fought for dominance and the red flames eventually won, causing the bullets to disintegrate into metal chips.

"Wow, did you see that, Gokudera? Storm flames! Like you!" Yamamoto whispered, nudging Gokudera's arm. The two had been stalking- following Deimos when suddenly, they saw Ryohei and Chrome. When the Mafioso appeared, they were about to step in but Deimos had beaten them to it.

Dashing forward, Deimos used his spear to knock the gun out of the attacker's hand and gave a kick to his stomach. "Che. Stop being so annoying and get out of this town."

The Mafioso let out a small squeak at the sight of a menacing-looking Deimos and Ryohei who was cracking his knuckles. Taking one look at his gun which was flung out pretty far, he shook his head and scrambled up to escape, tripping over a vine on the ground which wasn't there before. Chrome giggled.

"Hey, come back! We want to talk to the extreme!" Ryohei shouted as Deimos shoved the Sun guardian aside and walked off, ignoring them.

"Give it up, turf-top. He's not listening." Gokudera muttered as they came out from their hiding spot behind the building, running his fingers through his silver hair. "We should go back and report to juudaime."

~~~~~~~.

"Where are we going now?" Lambo asked as he tugged on Tsuna's arm. They had been walking for a while now and the child was starting to feel tired. They had already gone to Tsukiyo's, Deimos', and Aaron's home but no one was in. Now, they were headed to Aaron's shop and hopefully they would have some luck there.

Little bells chimed as Tsuna and Lambo entered the quaint, little shop. It had a calming atmosphere and there was a pleasant aroma floating round. Lambo sighed at the heavenly smell and made his way towards the cake display. "Tsuna, Tsuna! Look! Cake!"

Before Tsuna could say a word, Aaron came out from behind the shop and looked at Tsuna with scrutinising, crystal blue eyes. Wiping his hands on a piece of cloth, he leaned against the counter and arched a brow, expecting the brunet to say something. After a few moments of Tsuna and Aaron looking at each other in silence while Lambo continued to ogle at the scrumptious cakes, the older male finally spoke.

"What is your business here, Sawada Tsunayoshi, tenth generation of the Vongola? Shouldn't you be in school back at Namimori?"

"I would like to ask for your assistance in some matters concerning the Vongola and our opponent, the Scuro Vampa." Tsuna said as he tried to stop Lambo from drooling all over the glass display.

"I'm sorry, I'm afraid I cannot help you. I have no interest in helping any mafia organisations and as you can see, I am running a business now. That's the whole point of us coming to live here in Japan. Anyway, isn't the Vongola the most powerful organisation in Italy? Even with some internal troubles, I'm sure they can handle it pretty well."

_Us? Does he mean Tsukiyo and Deimos?_ "B-But this is really important! I don't have anyone else to turn to!"

"Hm?" Aaron looked at the young boss quizzically. "Now why would you even trust me? I've heard about you naivety but to trust a total stranger, especially an assassin? Child, hasn't your tutor taught you anything about the mafia world?"

Tsuna was left speechless as he searched his brain for a reply. "How old are you?" was the only thing he could splutter out.

"Two years your senior."

"Ah…" _He seems like he really knows a lot even though he's so young…_

Both were silent once more and the only sound in the shop was Lambo 'ooh-ing' and 'ahh-ing" at the wide selection of cakes.

"Would you like a slice?" Aaron asked as he turned to Lambo.

"No, its okay, we'll leave now-"

"YES, YES, YES PLEASE!"

Aaron chuckled and went to get a box to put the slice of chocolate cake in. "Here you go. It's on the house." He said, handing the box to the delighted child, patting him on the head with a kind smile.

Tsuna sighed and thanked him as well before ushering Lambo out of the store.

"Looks like we were unsuccessful. I wonder how the others did?"

* * *

><p><strong>Yo everyone! (I got bored of the usual 'hello' XD) I finally posted on time heh. One of my longest chapter so far! Anyway, this week has been total SHIT. I would love to rant here but I don't think everyone wants to hear it. The gist of it is that someone decided to spam a certain yaoi writer with insults to the genre and derogatory names which I'm sure NO ONE would want to be called. The messages posted on all her yaoi stories were obviously aimed at yaoi writers and readers. Even if you hate yaoi, there's no need to go so far as to spam insults and search out the writer's email to spam somemore! This is just being mean.<strong>

**Okay I'll stop my rant for now. One question before I end off( forgot to ask in the last chapter): How was the fight scenes? Too long? Too short? Not descriptive enough or it's fine as it is? Thanks! :)**

**Drop a review yeah?**


	14. Hostage and Trouble

_**Hostage and Trouble**_

Tsuna turned to look back at the shop and shook his head. He hadn't managed to convince Aaron to help them. How were they ever going to plan properly at this rate? He could only hope that his friends were able to recruit the help of the other two with ease. Closing his eyes, he concentrated on detecting the flames in their surroundings. _Ah, most of them are on the way back already… I guess it's time for us to head back to the hotel as well_. Tsuna opened his brown orbs, a glimmer of orange disappearing, and started walking.

Lambo stared at Tsuna in awe again as the fire in the teens eyes flashed by. _He's doing it again! _Tugging lightly on the sleeve of Tsuna's hoodie, he gave a bright smile to his brotherly figure. "I'm sorry I couldn't be of any use just now… But… I just want you to know that I'll always be on your side to kick butt!"

Tsuna looked surprised for a moment before returning the smile. "Of course. And I'll do whatever it takes to restore the Vongola so we can live together happily! Now let's go back, shall we?"

Lambo nodded and held onto Tsuna's hand tighter as they headed back.

Tsuna suddenly stopped in his tracks and looked up at sky, reddish hues streaking across it. His stomach lurched uneasily and his heart rate increased dramatically. At once he knew this feeling; his hyper intuition was ringing. Was something going to happen? Or had it already happened? Looking around, he sensed no danger nearby. There weren't any hostile flames either. So what was that about? Please don't let anything happen for now… We're not prepared yet…

"Tsuna? ... Is something the matter?" Lambo said, looking concerned. He was suddenly jolted backwards when Tsuna stopped. Seeing Tsuna frown like that made him worry a little.

"N-No… We're not in danger yet… Don't worry about it, 'kay?"

"Hai!"

~~~~~~~.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Tsuna spotted some of his guardians loitering around the lobby with grumpy faces. Judging by their faces, Tsuna knew that they didn't have any good news.

"Gokudera!" Tsuna called out in which the Storm guardian swiftly turned his head to face his boss. "How did everything go?"

Gokudera huffed and folded his arms. "We found that Deimos guy but he was so friggin' stubborn! Turf-top and Chrome met him too but we were attacked. Deimos managed to beat the attacker and left after that." Yamamoto nodded in agreement and pointed in the direction behind him where Ryohei was. He was leaning against the wall with Chrome who was examining his hand.

"Onii-san?... Wh-What happened to your fist?" Tsuna exclaimed as he rushed over to Ryohei's side.

"Don't worry about it! It was just a slight burn from that bullet!-"

"… Which had black flames coating it…" Chrome interrupted.

Tsuna's eyes widened. _Black flames? ... Like the other time in the mansion…_ "We'll discuss this in my hotel room. It's not safe here." He said in a low voice, looking around warily.

Making their way up to the room, Tsuna heard voices coming from inside and quickly entered it. "Reborn, Hibari?... Who's that?" he asked, his eyes fixated on a badly beaten up male in a suit which had patches of dried blood on it.

"Scuro Vampa henchman." Hibari shrugged. "So I decided to bite him to death."

_Half dead, you mean…_

"He figured we could use a hostage and make him spill information… By all means necessary." Reborn said.

Tsuna pitied the man on the floor but thought he deserved it anyway. "So… What have you gotten out of him?"

"Speak." Hibari said in a menacing tone as he glared at the Mafioso.

"Eeek! I… Team leaders are given the power of the black flame which our master created a few months ago! By using knowledge from the future, we managed to quicken the creation of the flame and gain the upper hand over the Vongola!-"

A tonfa crashed into the man's face and he fell on his back. A click of a gun was also heard.

"I would advise to rephrase your sentence." Reborn growled.

"I- I mean the time to create the flame was faster and secrets were stolen from the Vongola! And… And when the flame h-had been tested, leaders had those black flames injected into them!..." He trailed off and looked down at the carpeted floor.

Tsuna dragged a chair over and sat down. "Go on. Tell me more about this… Black flame. A name? Attributes?"

The man fidgeted for a bit, hesitant about what to say. Tsuna continued to stare at him with a frown and eventually, the Mafioso couldn't hold it in anymore. "Many… Died from the flames because their bodies couldn't withstand the extra flames being injected into them. Those that did survive… Well, some of them couldn't live for long because the body eventually broke down from the overload of power…"

"I assume you are a team leader and that you were lucky?" Tsuna asked.

"Y-Yes…"

"What about the attributes and such?"

The man continued to explain that the flame was highly destructive when harnessed properly and could negate the other types of flames as well if the user was strong, both physically and mentally. Right now, there was only less that twenty who had the flame and more might appear in time to come. Tsuna continued to stare at him with knowing eyes, as if expecting the man to continue.

"I know you're still hiding something. Please give us more information or else," a tonfa gleamed menacing from the corner of the badly beaten up mafioso's eye. "… My Cloud guardian will help you."

He swallowed thickly and decided that it wasn't worth his effort to go against the Vongola, especially now that he had seen it for himself. (No one told him that the guardians and the boss were THAT strong! They were kids, for goodness sake!)

"Boss' daughter was the most compatible with the flame and she is currently under training to harness it. No one has seen her before since Boss tries to hide her from everyone. Even the scientists who did the flame transfusion couldn't see her. God knows how they even did it. This is all I know, really! Please… Please don't kill me!... I have an ailing mother in Italy and the Scuro Vampa would kill her if they knew I told you this!" he pleaded, looking desperately at Tsuna.

"Where is your base?" Reborn asked, cutting off whatever Tsuna was about to say.

"I… I don't know." He said nervously.

Everyone in the room was surprised at the answer. How could one not know the location of one's own base?

"We move locations very frequently and they just moved again yesterday. No one told me so I don't know…"

"That's just stupid! Then how are you going to report back then?" Gokudera grumbled.

"If we don't return, it is taken that we are dead. They don't care about us, you see. We're just pawns. They can have as many as they want."

Tsuna shook his head with distaste. He would never abandon his comrades like that! Their boss is the worst! "We'll let you go."

The mafioso's eyes widened as he stared up at Tsuna. "W-Why?..."

"We've got the information that you've given us, in exchange, we'll let you go." Reborn answered with a hint of contempt. As much as he wanted to get rid of the enemy with a bullet in his head, Tsuna was still the Decimo and his word counts.

"Thank you! Thank you!"

Reborn crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently. "Go. Don't make us change our mind."

The man scrambled up and ran out of the room as fast as his one good leg could go (his other leg was broken, courtesy of Hibari).

Tsuna stared into space, deep in thought as he let out a long sigh. He seemed to be doing that very frequently these days. Snapping out of his thoughts, he turned to his guardians. "How was your day?"

Their faces immediately changed to one of disappointment and annoyance. "I'm sorry juudaime! We've failed! I- "

"He was extremely hard to convince!"

"Didn't see them." Hibari grunted, not pleased that he had worse luck than all the others, not that he wanted to interact at all. Oh well, at least he got to bite someone to death. (almost)

"Kufufufu…" came the creepy laughter and immediately, all attention was turned to Mukuro.

"What is it, you creepy freak?" Gokudera said, glaring at him.

Tsuna calmed Gokudera down before turning back to the illusionist. "Yes, Mukuro?"

"Even though I didn't manage to bring her here, I think she actually has something in mind." Mukuro said, handing over the folded piece of paper which he found in his glove earlier on with a small bow.

The Decimo took it hesitantly and unfolded it. "Huh?... What is this?..."

~~~~~~~.

The alarms rang throughout the Vongola headquarters and people were frantically running around, trying to escape the small fires and the crumbling plaster from the walls and ceiling which had started from an explosion at the west wing.

"Ninth! Please follow us to the car! The Scuro Vampa has already infiltrated the base and is approaching in our direction. Our men are barely keeping them off and we're getting wind of some strange power they're using!" Timoteo gathered up his things, not forgetting his sceptre and got up calmly, quickly exiting the room and following his subordinate.

"Has the Decimo been contacted yet?" Timoteo asked, worry lacing his words.

His subordinate shook his head lightly. "All communications are down. We suspect that the Scuro Vampa blocked the signals around the Vongola grounds. All we have now is the walkie-talkies but those have a limited range."

Timoteo frowned as his grip on the files he was carrying tightened. If what he had read was true, then it really was too late. They had made their move and he didn't make his fast enough. Now, he could only count on Tsuna to work things out… _Please be safe…_ As they made their way towards the exit, something exploded in front of them.

They shielded themselves from the debris and fanned away the smoke. Before them was a Scuro Vampa Mafioso, armed with a gun which was trained on the Ninth. "Turn around and go straight. You have an invitation from the Scuro Vampa."

"Don't be rash son. You don't have to do this. You're young, I'm sure you have-"

"Shut up, old man! The day I joined the Scuro Vampa, was the day I gave up my life! Now move!" he demanded, the gun in his hand never wavering.

Timoteo continued, "You can change that! Nothing can- "

"I said shut up already, stupid old man!"

"Watch out!"

A gunshot echoed through the corridor; a body falling lifelessly to the ground. Timoteo knelt down beside his fallen subordinate, placed the files down and said a silent prayer before standing up. His sceptre glowed a bright orange and as he was about to step forward to attack, a trigger was pulled and a bullet shot past the old man who barely dodged it, grazing his right arm. A black, hazy residue lingering at the cut made by the bullet caused Timoteo to wince as his own flames suddenly died down. _What… What is going on? Why are my flames disappearing? I still have them inside but why can't I bring it out? _He was puzzled. How could his flames just disappear, or rather, lock itself away like that? He tried to summon his flames again but to no avail.

"Last chance to move," a click was heard. "… Or else, I will make sure a bullet is in your skull."

Timoteo complied with a sigh of resignation and turned to walk where the mafioso wanted him to go. There wasn't much he could do anymore. He was too old to fight against the younger generation. _It's been a while since I actually fought…_

Another explosion set off nearby and the Scuro Vampa man cursed, urging the Ninth to pick up his pace. Were there reinforcements from the Vongola or the Scuro Vampa? As he was about to pick up another gun from the ground, a sudden sharp pain stabbed at his leg.

"Argh! What the hell?" He fell to his knees and pulled out an odd looking knife from his leg with much difficulty.

"Ushishishi… The Prince has found the foolish peasant and the old man!" a certain blond announced as he stepped through the smoke with a cheshire-like grin on his face.

"VOOOOI! About time too!" A sword came into sight and was being swung around to fan away the smoke.

"Sempai… Can we go now?"

"Boss! What are your orders?"

The Scuro Vampa mafioso quickly stood up and tried to make a run for it when suddenly, a blast of orange flames struck his face, forcing him back and through the wall.

"Ah, the Varia. Nice to see you again! Thank you, Xanxus." The Ninth said with a smile.

Xanxus grunted in response.

"We should really go now!" Lussuria chirped. "The building is about to crumble!"

As soon as they moved forward with the Ninth behind them, the ceiling started to crack.

"Oh fuck it." Squalo cursed as he looked up, the ceiling caving in on them.

~~~~~~~.

"How is the 'surprise visit' I set up for them? Splendid, isn't it?" Lorenzo said with a wry smile.

"Yes sir, very." Alon responded.

"The Ninth boss of the Vongola… I hope you're having fun, under a pile of rocks! Ahahaha! I've waited so long for this day! To see the Vongola destroyed!" he let out a cackle as he continued watching the chaos through the screen in front of him. Fire was all around, the flames slowly swallowing up the mansion. Disoriented people scrambled round to escape, to find safety. The CEDEF had too much on their end and the Varia was probably with the old man under the rubble. Ah, what beauty. Oh the joys of watching them suffer!

All that was left of the Vongola was the Decimo and his pathetic guardians. But that was to be left for his young, bloodthirsty child. First the Vongola, then their allies, then… The mafia world. Yes, it sounded impossible and stupid, like a hope one could never grasp hold of. Still, he didn't mind. It was all within sight now.

"_Find the Ninth and bring him to safety!"_

"_The Varia is missing as well!"_

"_We can't go through the west! The fire's too big!"_

"_We already have at least forty casualties! We can't- Argh!"_

"_Shit! Avoid the black flames! Keep shooting!"_

"_Are they even human?"_

Lorenzo's smile widened. The fun was just getting started.

* * *

><p><strong>Yeah, this is late. It took me a while to get this through. I wasn't feeling particularly motivated to write at all and when I did, it didn't turn out quite right XD<strong>

**So hey, more reviews = faster updates! Not begging but it's nice to know people are reading this ^^**

**Thanks!**

**OH OH I have an new story that's coming up soon (soon as in a few weeks or a few days haha) and it's a fem!27 x All story! It will be my first time writing a story like that so it will take a while! **


	15. Solve for a mission

**Long chapter with some Lambo action! Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>Solve for a mission<strong>_

"What is it, juudaime?" Gokudera asked Tsuna who was making weird faces while rotating the paper over and over again.

Tsuna fingered the translucent piece of paper, trying to feel for any marks and flipped it to the back then to the front again. "Hmm… How about this side?... No… Maybe- Ouch! What was that for, Reborn!" he yelped, rubbing the side of his head where a bruise was forming from Reborn's kick.

"You were acting weird so I thought you were possessed by the paper. Now hurry up and explain what all this is about."

_Yeah right, you seem like you're the crazy possessed one… _"I don't know… It looks like some sort of code…" Tsuna place the paper on the table for everyone to see. As they gathered round the table, you could see the confused and puzzled looks on their faces.

"This erm… Looks like a bunch of random letters thrown all around the page… Haha…" Yamamoto laughed apprehensively, scratching the back of his neck.

Gokudera snorted and folded his arms. "What if we rearrange the letters to form words or something?"

"Wow, extreme fun coding! She must have taken a lot of time and effort to do this!"

"She's making our lives difficult you idiot turf-top! How is this fun?" Gokudera retorted.

Tsuna's eye twitched. _They're still rambunctious as ever_… "Hey, let's just get this over and done with, okay?"

"What if we take these letters and place it over here…" Yamamoto scribbled something onto an extra piece of paper he found in one of the drawers.

"Lambo wants to join too! Put the 'L' and the 'I' there!"

"Don't be stupid! That's not even a word!- Oi! Stop adding other letters!"

"Why not?"

"You're only supposed to use the letters that are in the stupid paper!"

Tsuna sighed inwardly as he turned to Reborn who was shaking his head. Hibari didn't seem interested and went to lie down on the bed with Hibird nesting in his black hair. Mukuro sat in a corner as he watched the other guardians try to bust the silly code. _Kufufu… What a waste of time… I wonder if that illusionist has any tricks planted on the paper… I do detect a small amount of mist flames… _Looking up at Chrome, he smirked when she nodded to him. _So she noticed it as well…_

"GAAAH! Why isn't this working?" a frustrated Gokudera shouted, earning a deathly glare from Hibari. It had been at least five hours since they first tried to unscramble the words and each time they managed to get a few words, they were always short of some letters or that they had remainders. All were tired and hungry and Lambo had already eaten the chocolate cake he was given. Lambo let out a yawn and struggled to stay awake.

Tsuna rubbed his eyes and glanced up at the clock. "Twelve already? ... You know what? We should continue this tomorrow… We won't be able to think properly at this rate…" Tsuna said, stifling a yawn.

"But… But I can still go on!..." Gokudera pleaded.

"No. Everyone is going to sleep. Now. Go back to your rooms, grab a bite, have a shower and go straight to bed. We'll solve this tomorrow when we're fresh. Good night…"

The guardians nodded in agreement and left the room with Yamamoto dragging Gokudera out.

"What do you make of it, Tsuna?" Reborn asked, jumping onto the table to examine the piece of paper. Hibari, who was supposedly asleep, sat up and stared at the piece of paper.

"I have a feeling that we're not supposed to unscramble it… I don't know… Do you think we might have to use our Dying Will flames to solve it?"

"It's possible…Get some rest. We'll deal with it in the morning."

"Yeah… Good night, Reborn and Hibari." Tsuna said, crawling into bed without a shower. He was way too tired to even shower, let alone keep his eyes open.

"Good night, Dame-Tsuna."

"Hn."

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna woke up early that morning and noticed that Hibari was already up and examining the paper.

"Good morning Hibari!" Tsuna greeted as he made his way to the bathroom.

"… Morning."

Soon there were a few knocks on the door and Tsuna went to answer it. Reborn and the other guardians came in, looking fresh and alert. "I thought of a few methods we could try to solve it!" Gokudera exclaimed excitedly. He rushed over to where Hibari was and picked up the paper from the table where he had left. He raised it against the light and moved it around.

"Hm, no traces of invisible ink." He muttered.

"Don't they have to use some kind of blue light to read those?" Yamamoto asked.

Gokudera rolled his eyes and placed the paper on the table. "That blue light is ultraviolet light, you idiot. And there's a certain way to see minor traces of invisible ink under sunlight." After staring at it for a while, Gokudera wondered out loud, "Why was rice paper used instead of ordinary paper?"

"Maybe they had an offer when they bought it?"

Gokudera growled at the Sun guardian, muttering profanities under his breath. _Idiots_. He tried folding it to connect the letters to form words but it didn't work either.

"Do you think Dying Will flames are needed to reveal the message or something?" Tsuna asked. His Storm guardian turned towards him with sparkling eyes.

"That's a good idea! You could try waving your Sky flames over it! Let's just hope it won't burn though… But I have total faith in you, juudaime!"

Tsuna took in a deep breath and exhaled sharply. Here _goes nothing…_ He closed his eyes and concentrated on his flames. When he reopened them, his eyes were the colour of amber and a bright Dying Will flame appeared on his forehead. He coated his Vongola X gloves with the flame and raising his hand with bated breath, he waved it carefully over the paper for a few seconds. Everyone kept silent, anxious to see results.

After a minute or so, nothing happened to the paper at all. Tsuna took a step back and sighed. "It's not working…"

"How are we going to solve this puzzle?" Ryohei yelled, pumping his fists in the air. As he did that, something fell out from his jacket and it caught Reborn's sharp eyes.

"Oi, Tsuna." The hitman called out. "Something fell out of Ryohei's jacket."

"Huh? Hey Ryohei, something fell out- Eh…" Tsuna's flame died out and he bent down to pick up the folded piece of paper. "This! This is the same type of paper as Tsukiyo's!" He quickly unfolded it, only to see a somewhat similar type of pattern to the first message.

"Kufufu… Interesting. More random letters…"

"Wait, there's more to this…" Straightening out both pieces of translucent paper, he placed one on top of the other. Ah_, now it's starting to make sense._

"That's incredible, juudaime! You got it!"

Tsuna shook his head. "I think there is one more part…" Thinking back, he tried to remember is there was any instance where Aaron could have slipped in the paper discreetly. As his eyes fell upon Lambo, he immediately thought about the cake.

"Lambo! Where is the box for the cake that you ate last night?"

"Eh?... Eto… In the trash!" Lambo replied cheerfully, pointing at the miserable looking bin in the corner of the room. Tsuna was about to dig through it when Gokudera pulled him back.

"I'll do it! You don't have to dirty your hands!" Gokudera picked up the box and opened it. Tsuna peered inside and found that it was empty. Looking underneath, he found no paper either.

"Where could it be?" a frustrated Tsuna said, trying to remember everything, even the most insignificant action.

_Aaron chuckled and went to get a box to put the slice of chocolate cake in. "Here you go. It's on the house." He said, handing the box to the delighted child, patting him on the head with a kind smile__._

_That's it!_ "He patted Lambo's head when he gave him the cake!" Tsuna exclaimed.

The group looked at one another. "That means…"

"That stupid cow's…."

"AH! It's in his hair!" Ryohei said, an imaginary light bulb lighting up above his head.

"Chrome, hold him still please."

"Hai, Bossu…" She replied gently lifting the child up.

"GWAAAAH! Ah- Ahahaha! Ticklish! S-Stop!" Lambo laughed as Tsuna dug around in his afro hair. He pulled out some sweets, snacks, a few grenades, and the ten-year bazooka (which was handled with extra care). Finally, after rummaging through the mess, he pulled out a folded piece of paper.

Placing the last piece of paper on top of the other two, the message was finally clear to them. Pressing them together to make the words clearer, Tsuna read it out aloud:

_Hello Tsuna and gang! I see you finally solved this __simple__ puzzle! _(Gokudera scowled at this)_ The reason why we couldn't meet or acknowledge you was that we felt that we were being watched, most likely by the Scuro Vampa to see if we had retained our memories when we slipped through the portal to this time._

_We found out quite a fair bit about the Scuro Vampa. Seems that they are bent on destroying the mafia world and the first target is obviously the Vongola. Now that they have the secrets of the Vongola from the future, it is possible that they will carry out their task of destruction much earlier so stay alert! We'll discuss this further when we meet up later on._

_Oh yes, one more thing. Light up all your rings and aim at the right corner with the blue mark. After that, follow the instructions below very carefully. I'm serious. Very, very carefully. Don't mess it up._

Tsuna lit up his Vongola ring and the others followed suit. As they went nearer to the paper, mist started to form at the corner and it morphed into a keycard.

Picking up the keycard and reading the rest of the message, Tsuna sighed softly with a small smile. "We're going on a mission."

~~~~~~~.

_As you leave the hotel, cast an illusion to create clones of yourselves and make yourselves invisible. Make your clones go in another direction and split up eventually to make it more realistic. Do not break the illusion under any circumstances._

"I'll make the clones. Chrome-chan, you can make us invisible." Mukuro said confidently, knowing that Chrome's illusions were much more powerful now. There was no need for worry.

"Hai, Mukuro-sama." A mist surrounded them as Mukuro made illusions of themselves walking away.

Tsuna continued till they reached an old and dilapidated apartment which had an eerie atmosphere to it.

_When you reach street 23, find the apartment with two lion statues at the entrance and go up to the fifth floor, door number 71. Enter it and search for a blue box._

They climbed up the winding staircase till the fifth floor and when they got there, they saw that most of the numbers of the doors had already faded.

"Great. So we have to search every single one?" Gokudera said as his hand traced over the indent of where the number had been carved and painted on. "Look, this one is 67!"

"Ah! And the one beside it is 68! That means number 71 is just ahead!" Yamamoto said cheerfully.

The door was kicked open and the guardians began to search the room. Dust was flying everywhere and Chrome could not hold back. She let out a sneeze, causing the illusion to fall for a split second.

"A-Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" She apologised profusely. Mukuro froze in his position, eyes narrowing.

Tsuna noticed the change in his Mist guardian and asked, "Mukuro, what's going on?"

"They probably detected our flames' aura and are about to attack the decoy illusions. Some are headed in our direction already." Mukuro replied.

Tsuna bit his lower lip and started pacing up and down the room. "Can you make our decoys fight?"

After a short pause, Mukuro's smirk returned to his face. "Kufufu… It's harder but don't worry, Tsunayoshi. Nothing I can't handle." He sat down on a chair and closed his eyes, apparently in deep concentration.

Lowering his voice so as to not disturb is Mist guardian, Tsuna whispered, "Hibari, Lambo. Could you go take care of the others that are on their way here?"

The skylark smirked and walked out of the room without a word but Lambo remained rooted to the ground. "Are you sure?... B-But what if I… fail? What if I can't?..."

Tsuna smiled and patted his head. "Don't worry! I know you're strong enough to take care of them now. I have my utmost faith in you so do your best!"

Lambo nodded and dashed out of the room in the opposite direction of Hibari. "Let's start searching for the blue box and get out of here."

~~~~~~~.

Hibari found himself smirking when the omnivore asked him to take care of the Scuro Vampa member. Just the thing he needed to kill off this increasing boredom he was feeling. As he leapt onto large statue in the middle of a clearing, he whipped out his tonfas and brought them up to his usual attack stance. They were coming.

3…

2…

1…

"It's time to bite all of you to death…"

~~~~~~~.

"I'm going to show Tsuna that I'm strong! I can handle those losers! Bwahaha!" Lambo mentally announced as he ran towards the park.

"A kid? Seriously? The Vongola must be pretty desperate to recruit little children to fight for them! Hahaha!" A low voice rang out. Lambo turned around and let out a shriek before jumping back, dodging a hammer strike which created a huge crater in the ground where Lambo was once standing upon. Taking a quick glance at his attacker, Lambo saw that he was wearing metal pieces over his suit like armor and wielded a large hammer.

The child swallowed loudly with a gulp as he looked up closely at the man who was covered in scars. Gathering up his courage, he stuck out a tongue and shouted, "You're even uglier that Xanxus! Bwahahaha!" With that said, he ran for his life.

"You little imp! Come back here and let me crush you!" The man growled angrily, waving his oversized hammer at Lambo.

Uwaaaah! He's catching up! Lambo thought, running as fast as his two little legs could go. All of a sudden, more mafiosos jumped out in front of Lambo and he had to make a sharp turn to the left to avoid them.

Tears were starting to form from the corners of Lambo's eyes and he contemplated on calling for Tsuna.

"_I know you can do it! But if it's too much to handle, call for me, okay?"_

No! I'm going to show Tsuna that I've grown! "Can't catch me, all you old monkeys! Hahaha!" he shouted as he stopped running. When the enraged mafiosos got closer, Lambo held onto his ring tightly, summoning his Thunder Helm. "Gwaaah, too tight!" he whined. When he had regained his balance, he turned to face his opponents who were only a few metres away from him. "Corna Fulmine!" Lightning flames charged out towards the mafiosos, electrocuting them. They fell to the ground, groaning in pain as Lambo took the chance to escape once more.

"Not so fast, brat. Seems like I underestimated you." The man with the large hammer bellowed from behind, his weapon raised menacingly against the sunlight. Lambo gasped and ran in the other direction, only to trip and fall. The Thunder Helm came off, along with the Ten-Year Bazooka.

"Gotta… Stay… Calm… And show Tsuna… That I'm capable…" He muttered, crawling towards his Vongola gear.

"Che! You're just a puny kid! You want to prove to your boss? Wait for another ten years before even trying! Haha!"

Lambo clenched his fists and stopped in his tracks. "Yeah… Another ten years…" He got up and started running. This time, he went in the direction of the Ten-Year Bazooka. Lambo jumped in and pulled the trigger, resulting in a large cloud of pink smoke.

"Oi! What is… This smoke?" The man said, coughing from the smoke. As it cleared, the child that once stood there was gone and in his place was a teen.

"Yare yare… Got sent to the past again…- Ah, the Scuro Vampa. Looks like I have to get rid of you before I go back." The older Lambo droned, rudely yawning out loud. He strolled over to the Thunder Helm and picked it up, putting it on with a grunt.

"Hey! Who the hell are you? Where's that brat?"

Lambo slowly turned around, a bored look in his eyes. "What brat? I am the great Lambo of the Vongola family and their Lightning guardian. For ruining my happy days with Tsuna and the other annoying people, I won't let you off so easily."

_Thunder set. _Sparks of lightning crackled, gradually being stored up in his horns.

The hammer-wielding enemy took a step back, bracing himself with his hammer for an attack that was about to hit him when Lambo took a step forward, lightning flashing around dangerously.

_Elettrico Cornata_. Lambo charged towards the man at full speed to shorten the distance as the lightning that was stored in the horns flashed out at full power, making its way towards its target.

The man grunted as the blast hit him, pushing him back slightly with hammer taking the brunt of the blow. He tried to push the attack back and shifted his hammer but when he did, bolts of lightning traveled down to his arms and to his body, a sharp pain coursing through his body. "W-What the hell is this!"

"It's called electrocution." Lambo deadpanned as he forced out more lightning, resulting in a large explosion on the enemy side. The attack dissipated and Lambo went forward to check out the state of the Scuro Vampa member. The man had blacked out and Lambo certainly did not want to get too close to check if he was still alive in case it was a trap. The teen heaved a sigh of relief and turned around to walk away. "I hope this is enough time to stall the Scuro Vampa…" With a 'poof' and some pink smoke, Lambo reverted back to his younger self, a grin on his face.

"Bwahahaha! Look at the dummy now!" he cheered, running off to meet up with Tsuna.

~~~~~~~.

Groans of pain came from the ground as at least seven of the Scuro Vampa members laid there, wounded and covered in blood. Just a mere five minutes ago, said members had tried to ambush Hibari but had failed miserably and ended up being badly beaten up and their prides crushed. The chains that had caused those injuries recoiled back to Hibari's tonfas with a snap and the Cloud guardian turned to leave. However, something in his mind stopped him from leaving the scene and feeling annoyed from the lack of a thrill, he ignored it.

_Search them. _His mind suggested. Hibari Kyoya was one to be feared and never took orders from anyone but this time… He could make an exception. He walked up to one of the men and went down on one knee, checking his pockets and any other compartments he had. Hibari's fingers felt a small velvet covered box and when he took it out and opened it, it turned out to be a ring. It looked rather plain but the eye-catching part was the black crystal sitting on it. It was about the same size as the Vongola's gem but the cutting was rougher. The ring gave off an ominous aura and this unnerved Hibari a little when his gaze lingered too long on it. Stuffing the ring back into box roughly and snapping it shut, he stood up and quickly made his way back to the apartment to join the others.

~~~~~~~.

"Ah… Ah choo!" Tsuna sneezed as he continued to search the dusty drawers for the blue box. "Where is it anyway?..."

"Tsuna! Is it this?" Yamamoto called out from one of the bedrooms. Tsuna and Gokudera stopped their search and went over to the swordsman's location. Yamamoto grinned as he proudly held up a sky blue box in his hands.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Open it!" Gokudera said impatiently.

Yamamoto handed the box to Tsuna who unlatched the catch to open it. Inside it was a ring with a light orange crystal and familiar crest on it.

"E-Eh?... This… This is the Armonia Famiglia ring!" Tsuna exclaimed, slightly excited over the fact that it really was his comrades.

"That's great! Now that we have it, I think we should really leave… Chrome and Mukuro might not last very long…" Yamamoto said, glancing out of the room where Chrome sat. She looked a little weary while Mukuro's brow was knitted, his face no longer having the calm expression he had previously and beads of perspiration slid down his face.

"Tsuna! I defeated them! I totally kicked their ass!" Lambo said, a big smile on his face. _Even if it was my ten-year later self who did most of the work… But technically, it's still me! _Behind him was Hibari who looked straight at Tsuna, taking out the box he got from the mafioso.

"Good job, Lambo! I knew you could do it!... Hibari? What did you find?"

Hibari tossed the small box over to Tsuna who caught it easily. "A ring from the Scuro Vampa. I don't like the feeling of it though."

Tsuna opened it and the black crystal gleamed sinisterly under the artificial light. He quickly shut it close as his heart rate quickened. _This ring… What's with it?..._

"Juudaime? Are you okay?" Gokudera asked concernedly when he saw Tsuna pale slightly.

Tsuna shook his head and stuffed the box into his pocket. "N-No, it's nothing much… I just didn't feel comfortable with the aura of the ring… Come on everyone, we should get going. Mukuro, Chrome, are you okay?"

Chrome nodded and stood up steadily. "I'm fine, boss. Making us invisible isn't as strenuous as what Mukuro is doing…" There was a short moment of silence before Mukuro slowly cracked open his eyes.

"It is done." He said hoarsely. "Shall I continue to keep the clones as a decoy or destroy them?"

"If it's not too harsh on you, then I would like you to keep it going…"

"Very well." He got up slowly and was tilting dangerously when Tsuna quickly supported him, steadying him as they left the apartment.

"Where to now, Tsuna?" Yamamoto asked, pulling Mukuro's arm round his shoulder to ease Tsuna's burden.

_When you have found the box, along with the item inside, go to Reshun post office._

"To the Reshun post office."

* * *

><p><strong>Another long chapter! :D Anyway, is this story getting too boring? From the response I'm getting (or lack of), it really does seem that way! I tend to drag things along and maybe it did get a little long-winded at some parts so I'll try to speed things up!<strong>

**Oh yes, if this story hits more than a hundred reviews, I'll upload a new story which I've been really hyped up about! Clue: Features the Arcobaleno and child Tsuna!**

**I sort of lost interest in the fem27 x all story I was been working on so it won't come up so soon or not at all...**

**Thanks for reading and REVIEW YEAH?**


	16. Action

_**Action**_

"The… Post office?..." Lambo questioned. Tsuna nodded. "But… But it's not like a spy's secret hideout! It's too… too normal!"

Yamamoto laughed as he petted Lambo's shoulder with his free hand, gently pushing him out of the door. "Maa maa, shouldn't we all get going now? We don't really fancy any more attacks coming our way…"

"Ah yeah, let's go." Tsuna said, leaving the apartment, the others following suit.

As soon as Mukuro regained some of his strength and was able to walk by himself, they picked up their pace, hoping to reach their destination soon before noon. Tsuna's mind wandered off, thinking about the things that were going on. _Why is the Scuro Vampa sending out the weak ones against us? Is this some sort of warning? What is their goal?_

Before long, they had reached the post office. Tsuna pushed open the glass door and entered the building. The interior was just like a normal post office and nothing was out of the ordinary.

_When you're there, get in the elevator and tap the card on the space below the buttons. Oh, be careful, it's a tight squeeze!_

Tsuna and the others made their way towards the elevator and when they entered it with the door barely closing shut, they knew why.

"Damn it! Get your stupid elbow out of my gut!" Gokudera complained, pushing Yamamoto.

"Haha, sorry about that but there really isn't much space-"

"Stop moving so much, herbivores." Hibari spat, with annoyance written all over his face. He really couldn't stand crowding in such a tight space with a bunch of idiots.

"Oya, I almost forgot that the birdie didn't like squeezing…" Mukuro teased. Hibari sent a spine-chilling glare to the illusionist but made no move to attack, considering that his hands couldn't move to where he kept his tonfas.

"I think… I can't… breathe…" Lambo muttered, his face paling. He was stuck in Chrome's arms with his face against Ryohei's sweaty back.

"Lambo! Erm… Hang in there!" Tsuna quickly tapped the card and a small green light blinked. The elevator jerked and movement of it felt like they were going down to the basement then sideways to the left. With another sudden jerk, the doors opened to a dimly lit corridor.

Tsuna stepped out hesitantly, the others relieved to be out of that tiny box. As he squinted his eyes, Tsuna made out a door further up and told his guardians to follow. Upon reaching the door, Tsuna tried to push it open but it wouldn't budge. He ran a hand over the smooth surface of the metal door and let out quiet 'Ah!' when he felt a small indent right in the middle. He took out the ring that he found in the apartment and put it on. A small orange flame flickered on the ring, lighting the dim corridor and Tsuna quickly pressed it against the indent. A creak was heard and the door finally opened.

"Come on, we can't waste anymore time!" Tsuna said, entering the room.

~~~~~~~.

"VOOOOOOI! I already said I'm fine! Now get out!" Squalo yelled at the nurse.

"Ushishishi… No one should touch the prince so casually, unless you want to be executed." Belphegor said with a sadistic grin, twirling one of his knives in one hand.

"Now now, I'll heal all of you, okay~?"

"Shut the hell up and scram!" Xanxus yelled, sending all the doctors and nurse out. He was feeling fine but they insisted on an unnecessary check up. He casually glanced over to Timoteo who had a worried look on his face. A few hours ago, the damn ceiling just had to collapse on them. It was a good thing that stupid Fran created some illusions to throw off some of the debris to lessen the blow. "Oi, old man."

Timoteo looked up and sighed. "I hope the Decimo and his guardians are alright…"

Xanxus snorted and rolled his eyes. "Those brats? Hmph, why not call them?"

The Ninth immediately picked up the phone and punched in a few numbers. _Please be well, Tsunayoshi…_

~~~~~~~.

"Welcome! Took you a while to get here eh?" Tsukiyo greeted cheerfully.

Tsuna and the others stepped into the spacious, well-lit room and went to take a seat round a large table.

"If it wasn't for your silly puzzle, we would have reached here earlier!" Gokudera said, folding his arms.

"If you had more brains, you would have reached here earlier!" Deimos retorted. "And it wasn't even a puzzle!"

The Storm guardians was about to say something when Tsuna put a hand on his shoulder. "Cut it out guys. We have more important things to discuss…"

A folder was passed to Tsuna and the Decimo accepted it, flipping it open. Everyone immediately became silent, the only sound heard was the flipping of pages. Tsuna frowned as he read the information. _Human experiments to test out a new flame… Like what we were told… What's this?... Destroying the mafia world?... Why?_

"We sort of discussed this and the best possible solution is to face them in Italy. Of course, you should discuss with the Vongola before taking action." Tsukiyo said.

"So there's really no other choice but to fight huh…" Tsuna wasn't very keen on fighting, especially when this was a situation that could erupt into a huge war. He had confidence in his guardians but his greatest fear was their vague knowledge about their enemy. Even though they had come across only weak ones so far, Tsuna had a feeling that the main members of the Scuro Vampa were on a completely different level. Suddenly, a ring from his phone snapped him out of his thoughts. Getting out of his seat, he quickly answered it.

"Hello?... Grandpa? - I mean Nono!" Everyone perked up.

"Wh-What?... Yes, yes, we're fine… How did this happen?... I'm coming over as soon as I can!" Tsuna hung up and went back to his seat. "We're going to Italy now. The Vongola has been attacked and more than half has been destroyed. The Ninth and many others, including the Varia officers and some of the CEDEF members are in a hospital recuperating now."

"Even the Varia?..." Gokudera mumbled, folding his arms.

"Where is Reborn?" Aaron asked, noticing that the tiny baby who was usually with Tsuna wasn't here for once.

"Eh… He said that he has something to do… Anyway, we should get a flight to Italy as soon as possible."

~~~~~~~.

"How did you know about the issues of the Vongola?" Reborn demanded, his Leon gun aimed at Miko Beruka who didn't have her usual smile on.

"I'm just like a neutral party like the Cervello. They're the judges while my famiglia is neutral. Look, I can help! I know about the Scuro Vampa and I can assist you in taking them down! They're a threat to the mafia world and you know that the Vongola needs all the help it can get." Miko replied, eyeing the gun with great caution.

Reborn's beady eyes narrowed, scrutinising the small-built girl in front of him. He knew there was something up the moment she first appeared in front of them but for her to be a neutral party? He was guessing that Miko was from another Family sent to observe them or something. There wasn't much of an aura around her and after some observation during the last two weeks, she didn't seem like much of a threat. There was no contact with her Family whatsoever and everything she did was like a normal schoolgirl. To trust, or not to trust?

"Contact your Family now. I want to confirm it."

Miko took out her pink cell phone and punched in a few numbers. When there was a dial tone, she handed it to Reborn. The person on the other side picked up and Reborn immediately asked in Italian, "Who is this? Which Famiglia are you?"

"I am Carmine Neo, ottavo of the Imparziale Famiglia. And who might _you_ be, calling from my daughter's phone?" came the calm reply.

_They're a small famiglia, no doubt they are a neutral family with very few allies…_ "I am Reborn from the Vongola. I apologise for the disturbance, I just wanted to make sure about the Famiglia. That is all," With that said, he hung up and passed the phone back to Miko.

"Are you happy now?" Miko said with a huff. "I'm just trying to help y'know."

Reborn hesitated. For the first time in his life, he hesitated on the next course of action. He really didn't know if she could be trusted but since there was some form of confirmation, he decided on it. "Fine, what do you know?"

A smile reappeared on Miko's face again. "First thing to do is to go to Italy! I don't think that Mafia war should take place here."

"We'll go to the airport and I'll call Tsuna and the others to meet us there."

~~~~~~~.

"Reborn just called and he wants us to meet at the airport!" Tsuna said.

Yamamoto laughed and stood up. "Wow, what a coincidence!"

-At the airport-

"Why is Miko here, Reborn?" Tsuna exclaimed. _I hope this isn't one of his antics again…_

"She's from a neutral Family and can help us in the issue with the Scuro Vampa."

"E-Eh?"

"Hurry up and get on the plane before I shoot you." Reborn said, making Leon transform into a gun. Tsuna sighed and ushered his guardians and comrades into the private jet.

"Did you hear about the attack on the Vongola?" Tsuna asked Reborn in a low voice. The Arcobaleno nodded, a grave look on his face as he sipped his espresso.

"I just hope we're not too late to stop them."

~~~~~~~.

"Tsunayoshi! It's so nice to see you again!" Timoteo said cheerfully as he sat up.

"Grandpa!- I mean, Ninth! I'm glad to see that you're well…"

"Now, now. You don't have to be so formal! Thank goodness all of you are safe!... Who might that be?" he said, looking at the girl beside Reborn.

Reborn stepped forward. "She's from the neutral family and will be helping us to fight against the Scuro Vampa."

"I… See…" Timoteo muttered. He patted Tsuna's shoulder and lightly pushed him away. "It's time for you to decide the next course of action. It's all up to you now."

_What? Is he saying what I think he's saying?..._ "But I'm not officially-"

"I know… The time is right and I know you will handle this situation well with your guardians. Now go… By the way, the Varia is in the next room but you should have already heard them on the way here."

Tsuna laughed nervously and nodded_. We could already hear them from outside the hospital… _The Decimo turned to leave and everyone followed. "We'll rest for a while at the temporary Vongola base before discussing."

~~~~~~~.

-Vongola temporary base-

"Tsuna? Can I speak to you for a moment?" Miko requested softly.

He told the others to head to their rooms first and turned to face the girl. "Sure. What's wrong?"

"Do you have a Scuro Vampa ring in your possession?" she asked.

"Yeah and how did you know?"

"I was just asking! May I see it?"

Tsuna took out the small box from his pocket and opened it, revealing the ominous-looking ring. Miko took it out and ran her thumb over the rough surface of the gem. "Keep it safe okay? No one else should hold it except you."

"Erm… Okay…" Tsuna replied, a little puzzled at the strange request. Miko returned the ring and left, leaving Tsuna standing in the hallway.

~~~~~~~.

Everyone sat on the floor in a large circle of a room with minimal noise. Tsuna cleared his throat and said, "It seems like the Scuro Vampa has made their move so we can't delay this anymore. We need to plan now. I was thinking of how to infiltrate their base and find out what other secrets they got from the future Vongola-"

"We'll do it. We can infiltrate the base and clear the path for you." Tsukiyo said.

"Huh? But it'll be dangerous-"

"Please! We'll be fine!" Deimos grunted. After much persuasion, Tsuna finally agreed and decided that the plan will start on the next day.

~~~~~~~.

"Is everything prepared?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good… Then we shall wait for our guests' arrival…"

~~~~~~~.

"Good luck guys… Stay safe okay?" Tsuna said worriedly as he stood at the door.

"Don't worry! We'll be fine! Just do what you need to do and when everything is over, we can fun!"

Tsuna smiled weakly and watched as his Armonia comrades left. He knew the risks of blindly entering the enemy's base so someone was needed to spy from within but he was still unsure about sending his own comrades in first before they made their move. He paced up and down the hallway for a few minutes before heading for their makeshift meeting room to meet his guardians.

"Gokudera, how's it going?" Tsuna said, walking over to Gokudera who was typing away on a laptop, headphones round his neck.

"The communicators are working fine and they're nearly at the base now, juudaime," Gokudera replied. "It should be about one or two days till we can make our move."

"Hey erm… Tsuna?"

Tsuna turned around to face Yamamoto who looked uneasy. "Is something wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"N-No… It's just that… I was thinking… What happens after all this?"

Tsuna's eyes widened. He heard Gokudera stop typing behind him and could feel the rest of his guardian's gazes on Yamamoto who didn't look like his normal self. Tsuna understood why Yamamoto was feeling this way. After all, they experienced something like this with the fight with Byakuran and Yamamoto had lost his father that way. Of course Yamamoto would be worried.

"I mean, yeah, if we defeat the Scuro Vampa, all is well but do we go back to our time or do we remain here? After all, the time machine that we came through from doesn't exist in this time. And… What if we… fail? Does that mean…"

"We won't fail." Tsuna said with determination, his fists clenched into tight balls. "We will, I repeat, we will not fail and we will definitely go back to our time. I will do whatever it takes to get us back."

Yamamoto stood there, stunned as Tsuna words of firm assurance sank in. _When was Tsuna this mature and confident?... _

Gokudera's dedication and pride for his boss just rose to a whole level, a rare smile forming on his face. "Of course juudaime can do it. I have faith in him.." Gokudera softly whispered.

* * *

><p><strong>I apologise for updating so late! I could give you a whole bunch of reasons (no, I'm not calling them excuses!) but I'm too lazy to type it out XD Anyway, the action is going to start soon so hopefully this story will become a little more exciting. (Hopefully more reviews too?) <strong>

**As mentioned in the last chapter, I might post another story if the reviews for this story reached 100 reviews but since it probably won't happen, I'll post it after I finish this story!**

**Thanks for reading and REVIEW YEAH?**

**By the way, my AllxFem27 story, 'Lovely Madness' is up! The title is weird I know. Subject to change though XD**


	17. Into the mouth of Darkness

_**Into the mouth of darkness**_

It had been almost a day since Tsuna's friends from his Armonia family went undercover at the Scuro Vampa base and even though everything was going smoothly, the young Decimo still couldn't sleep. Maybe the plan was going _too_ smoothly… Was it really that easy to sneak in and gather information or was it part of their enemy's plan? Either way, it was too late to do anything. He tossed and turned in bed, wondering how they were actually going to get back to their time. Whatever he said a few hours ago was just in the heat of the moment. He didn't really have a solid plan at hand. Tsuna groaned and buried his face in his pillow. They could build another time machine… but that would take time. A lot of time. Spanner and Shoichi had told him that staying too long in the past might do something to the space-time continuum and the absolute maximum they should stay was two to three years.

Getting up, he opened his bedside drawer and took out two small boxes. He opened the blue box and slipped on a chain through the Armonia ring, hanging it round his neck. Opening the second box, he stared at the ring from the Scuro Vampa. He could feel an unknown aura coming from it and looking at the rough yet shiny black gem in the middle was like looking into a bottomless pit which was pulling him in, dragging him, absorbing…

_No._

He snapped the box shut and dropped it back into the drawer, closing it with a loud 'thud'. This was the second time that felt that aura from the ring. Was it ever going to stop? He shuddered a little at the horrible sensation he just felt and realized that he was covered in cold sweat. How long had he been staring at it?... Not bothering to wipe off his perspiration, he fell back onto his bed, hoping to fall asleep and be ready tomorrow.

~~~~~~~.

"B-Boss! Are you awake?..."

Tsuna woke up abruptly and sat up, turning to face the door. "Chrome? What's wrong?"

"Gokudera asked me to fetch you as soon as possible…" Chrome said, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. Tsuna immediately got up and ran out of the room with Chrome in hand.

"Juudaime! Sorry to disturb your rest but you have to see this!"

The Decimo moved over to the monitor and when he saw what was on the screen, he nodded. "It's time for us to take action. They've already disabled the exterior security and the weaker grunts. All we have to do get in the private section and take them down!"

"Finally," Hibari said with a smirk, "I can't wait to bite them to death."

"This is so exciting to the extreme!"

"Lambo is gonna kick some serious butt!"

Gokudera shook his head in exasperation. "Idiots."

~~~~~~~.

"It seems our guest will be arriving soon… Vongola, saro in attesa…"

~~~~~~~.

"It's awfully quiet around the base…" Yamamoto commented as they came out through a clearing in the woods.

"Obviously since they were already taken out." Gokudera muttered, scanning the area just in case.

"According to our information, we should be able to clear this easily. Come on." Tsuna said, moving forward. The front door was wide open and when they stepped in, the place was clear and silent, as if no one had been there at all. Looking down to Miko for directions, she nodded, pointing ahead. Tsuna suddenly felt very uneasy as he looked around. _I seem to be getting very paranoid lately…_ he thought. Tsuna headed for the nearest door and pushed it open with a slight creak. Walking down the eerie hallway, Tsuna couldn't help but feel apprehensive. He felt like they were being watched and apparently, his guardians felt it too from their tensed expressions.

"We should hurry before reinforcements arrive," Miko said, nudging Tsuna towards yet another door which had intricate carvings on it. "This should be the entrance to the supposed private section of the Scuro Vampa base… Be careful."

As they walked through another corridor, Gokudera noticed that ground wasn't carpeted anymore and some parts of the floor were not even. He stopped in his tracks as he suddenly remembered something. "Juudaime! I think this is a trap!"

"Wha-?" A soon as those words left the Decimo's mouth, the sound of grinding gears resounded, followed by small tremors.

"E-Earthquake?" Lambo cried out, running towards Chrome for comfort.

A trapdoor suddenly appeared where Gokudera and Yamamoto were standing on and both who were taken by surprise, fell in.

"Gokudera! Yamamoto!" Tsuna wanted to run to them but a force pulled him back. "Let go!"

"Sorry, I can't, because you have to get in… There!" Miko said, pulling Tsuna with a surprising amount of strength towards a room, flinging him in.

"Boss!"

"Tsunaaaaaa!"

Miko grinned, waving to them. "Bye bye! Have fun!" The corridor turned and the girl disappeared, along with their boss. Another corridor behind the group turned, separating Ryohei from Mukuro, Chrome, Lambo, and Hibari.

"Mukuro-sama! That was like Millifiore base with the rotating corridors!"

Mukuro looked around, his usual smirk missing. "Indeed, Chrome… It looks like we're separated… We'll have to search for them."

"I have better things to do that group up with herbivores. I'm going alone." Hibari hissed, pivoting on his heel to leave in another direction.

"Suit yourself, skylark. Why not take the little brat with you."

"I'm following Chrome!" Lambo huffed, doing his utmost to glare at the male illusionist.

As they made their way through the bare hallways, Lambo couldn't help but feel panicky. He knew that something was there, watching, and waiting for the right moment to pounce. At this moment, Lambo was wishing for Tsuna to be there with him. He felt safe around the older teen and if Tsuna was there with him, Lambo was certain of victory from every battle or fight.

Chrome noticed the child fidgeting and lightly tapped his shoulder. "Are you feeling okay?..."

"There's something here! I know it!"

The female illusionist felt the presence near her and when something brushed against her, she quickly turned but nothing was there. The presence felt weaker and more dispersed, making it harder for Chrome to pinpoint its location.

"Chrome… Did you feel something?" Mukuro said warily, readying his trident. A nod from the girl made Mukuro realize that the battle had already started.

Lambo's eyes suddenly widened as he shouted, "Chrome, watch out!" An invisible force struck Chrome from behind, slamming her into a wall. Mukuro swung his trident but it hit nothing. Usually, Lambo would have screamed out that it was a ghost but at that time, he couldn't, because he could see it. A giant spider covered in black flames crawled on the ceiling, its face almost like a human.

"Pineapple-head! It's over there! Can't you see it?" Lambo said, pointing at the grotesque creature.

"There is absolutely nothing there! And I am certainly not blind." As soon as he said that, Lambo saw the spider jumping towards Mukuro who tensed up, feeling the presence nearby. He too, was unable to pinpoint the exact source.

"It's on your left! Hit it! Hit it!"

Mukuro couldn't believe that he was about to follow a brat's orders but if what he said was accurate, then he really had to trust him. The illusionist stabbed the air where the spider was supposed to be and when a loud cry was heard, Mukuro smirked. "Kufufu… Where is it now?"

"It's… It's crawling to Chrome!"

At the sound of her name, Chrome quickly recovered and slammed the base of her trident onto the ground and various plants shot out, braiding itself together and forming a protective wall. Immediately, Mukuro went forward to kill it once and for all but the creature sprang backwards to dodge the blow and landed onto Lambo.

"Now it's on me! E-Electrica di rilascio!" Bolts of green electricity shot out from Lambo, some managing to hit the spider. Some of the black flames hardened from the solidifying attribute of the lightning and the spider let out another ear-piercing shriek. With its face contorted with fury, the spider brought up a sharp claw and pierced it into Lambo's shoulder.

"Lambo!" Chrome yelled as she watched a patch of red appear on Lambo's shoulder. How could they even win this when they couldn't even see their enemy? The child fell to the ground, whimpering as he clutched at his shoulder.

"Gotta… Stay calm… C-Can't let Tsuna… down…" Lambo was afraid, no, terrified. All his life, he had been injured lightly or badly bruised but never stabbed. He also had a low tolerance for pain and this injury was definitely over the limit. He held back his scream, letting only tears form at the corner of his eyes. Frankly, all this blood scared him to the point where he felt light-headed. He didn't want to give up; he couldn't give up. Wasn't he the one who told Tsuna that he would kick butt? It looks like his butt was getting kicked instead. After a few seconds, he felt the spider jump off him and Lambo sighed, trying to get up.

"Lambo! W-We need you! Please don't give up!" Chrome pleaded. She stood back-to-back with Mukuro, bracing herself for any attacks.

"You're the only one who can see that darn thing. I hate to say this but, please get up, now."

Lambo took in a deep breath and forced himself to stand up. _Not now… For Tsuna!_ Noticing that the spider was crawling towards the duo, he quickly pointed in the direction, letting out a weak "Over there!"

Mukuro waved his trident above him and lava shot out, barely hitting the creature. Chrome on the hand, sent out thick branches which managed to catch the spider by one of its limbs.

Lambo cheered a little inside and prepared for another electric attack to the spider. "Chrome, you got it!... W-Wait… No fair! It's… It's cutting off its leg, Chrome! Move out of the way!"

The spider sawed off its entangled limb and made a mad rush towards the female. Lambo's warning came too late as the moment Chrome moved out of the way, using her trident to shield herself, the monster gave a smirk and knocked her off her feet, causing her to fall. Mukuro tried swinging his trident since he couldn't see the monster but it hit nothing. Feeling rather frustrated, he made vines shoot up randomly, hoping to keep the spider busy while he went to help Chrome up. The girl stood up shakily and went towards Lambo, gently patting the trembling child. "I… I think we should escape for now… We can't confront the monster like this."

A hiss from the spider indicated that it was coming for them so Chrome quickly pulled Lambo up and started running, Mukuro following behind.

"It's gaining on us!..." Lambo muttered. Suddenly, the spider jumped to Lambo's side, slashing his arm with a flame covered claw. "Aaah! It's going to eat me!... W-Wait…" Lambo stopped and turning around. "I can't see the spider anymore…"

Mukuro arched a brow. "What do you mean?"

"After it slashed me… It disappeared!"

Chrome glanced up at Mukuro, a tinge of fear rising. He looked like he was deep in thought and when he raised his head, Chrome held onto Lambo's hand tighter.

"As I thought… The black flame makes it invisible to our eyes. The claw, was it covered in black flames?"

A nod.

They stood in silence for a while, unsure of what to do. They couldn't see their enemy anymore and even though it was three against one, they were still disadvantaged. Lambo panicked. This time, they might actually die.

Lambo felt a slight wind, like something was moving past him. Oh yes, they were really doomed now.

~~~~~~~.

Ryohei was confused and somewhat lost. First, he was separated from his friends and now, he was faced with yet another dead end after running around for fifteen minutes. The building didn't really seem that big from the outside. "Where is everyone?" he shouted, his voice echoing through the corridors. "That's it! If I can't find paths, then I'll make them! Maximum cannon!"

A loud explosion was heard and when the dust cleared, the dead end was no longer a dead end. "Now to find the others to the extreme!" However, before he could even take a step forward, a hand gripped his arm, completely immobilising Ryohei.

"Won't you go and sleep for a little while?"

Ryohei vision blurred as he fell to the ground, his surroundings fading away while the shadowy figure grinned.

* * *

><p><strong>Hello awesome readers! :) As you can see (or maybe not), I'm really, really happy. That's why I decided to update earlier! Anyway, how was the first fight scene? Good? Bad? Needs more improvement? Any questions about this story so far?<strong>

**Wow, we're at chapter 17 already. Phew, I never thought I would make it this far! Just to let you know, I guess I told you already but I have a new story up. (TSR will definitely be my TOP priority though) I usually don't post new stories when I have ongoing ones but I had a sudden urge to. This story will be ending in about 5 chapters I guess and after this, I'll post a new story! So... Which would you rather read? A story with the Arcobaleno or a story about the Varia? I can't decide which to post after this XD**

**Thanks for reading and review! (I never did tell you why I was happy, did I? Well, there were more reviews than usual for the last chapter and my new story was great! :D)**


	18. Figuring it out?

_**Figuring it out**_

"Miko! What are you doing?" Tsuna demanded, shaking free from the girl's hold on him. _Did she actually betray us?_

Miko looked up innocently and smiled. "Tsuna… I'll see you later!" she said, disappearing into the darkness.

Tsuna soon found himself in a room which was completely dark, to the point where he couldn't even see his own hand in front of him. "Hello? Is anyone there?..." His voice faded into the darkness and as he started walking around aimlessly, he found himself taking out the black ring from his pocket.

_Put it on…_

_What was that?_ Tsuna glanced around hesitantly, his heart rate increasing. _Calm down, Tsuna! Just get out of the room and you'll be fine… _The silence around him was unnerving and the thought of his friends being in danger made it worse.

_Put on the ring…_

Absentmindedly, the ring slipped from his sweaty palms and just as he was about to walk away from the ring, Tsuna found himself unable to do so as his eyes were fixated on a small gleam from the ground. _No… I shouldn't…_

_The ring…Wear it…_

Tsuna finally gave in to the voice and picked up the ominous looking ring. Was he supposed to put it on?... As he slipped on the ring, a sudden flare of the black flame shot out from the gem of the ring. His eyes widened and he desperately tried to tug off the ring. However it was stuck firm and soon, he felt himself getting weaker and weaker, his vision blurring. Before long, he dropped to his knees and the world faded.

~~~~~~~.

"Tsuna! Oi! Can you hear me?" Reborn shouted into the communicator. _Damn it, at a time like this… _A few minutes ago, the line was just fine but suddenly, everyone just got cut off. Reborn hated not knowing what was going on. He hated the fact that he didn't know what was happening to his dame student and his guardians. _I should have gone in with them…_ His phone suddenly rang and Reborn picked it up reluctantly. "What?"

"_H-Hi Reborn… Is Tsuna there?"_

"Enma. No, that idiot is in the enemy base." Reborn replied curtly, his small arms folded as he glared at the computer screen, phone in his hand.

"_W-Well erm…"_

"What is it? Is this about helping Tsuna? Stop hemming and hawing! I don't have time!"

"_No it's not that! He told us that we have to stay out of this fight so that the Shimon won't be implicated… Tsuna told Aaron of the Armonia famiglia to pass the rest of the information from this morning onwards to me so that I could relay it to you personally…"_

_Why would Tsuna want the information to be given to me personally?... Unless… He didn't want anyone else to know…_ "What is it?"

"_Erm he said…" the sound of pages flipping was heard. "The Imparziale Famiglia was the first family to taken over and destroyed by the Scuro Vampa Famiglia. The ottavo, Carmine Neo was found dead in his office, along with every single member of that family who were killed by something unknown…."_

"Wait. Taken over and destroyed?" _Damn it! I was played!_ "When was this? Did Carmine Neo have any heirs?"

"_Eh… About two weeks ago and no, his daughter died at birth…"_

Reborn slammed his small fist on the table as he pulled down his fedora to hide the fury in his eyes. _Tsuna… Don't you dare die on me… _"What else?"

"_The rest has already been sent to you… Aaron said that that piece of information was the most important one…"_

"Okay. Thanks Enma." Reborn said, hanging up immediately. _Looks like the battle is up to you guys now._

~~~~~~~.

"Yamamoto you idiot! Get up!" Gokudera hissed, violently shaking the Rain guardian. "This is no time to be sleeping! Juudaime is in danger!"

Yamamoto stirred a little before cracking open his eyes, trying to adjust his vision. "What happened?..."

"We fell into a trapdoor! And… That woman! She split us all up, separating us from juudaime! She betrayed us!" Gokudera spat, pulling Yamamoto up to his feet. Observing their surroundings, the two guardians found themselves in a dimly lit hallway. However, there was a vast difference between the hallway they were currently in and the hallway where they were before falling.

There was a musty smell and the once white walls were now grayish with traces of dried blood, the carpet dirtied and torn. The lamps' yellow lights were flickering, making the whole scene creepier than it was.

"I feel like we've just stepped into as haunted house." Yamamoto commented with a shudder, examining a large painting on the wall. The faces of the people on the painting had been scratched off, probably by sharp claws, while everything else was left intact. Moving on to another painting, he saw that the other faces had also been scratched off. _What's with the weird poses some of them are doing?..._

"All the paintings don't have faces… What the hell is going on…" Gokudera muttered. He tapped on his communicator, only to hear static. "Hey Reborn? Juudaime! Can anyone hear me? Yamamoto, are you getting any signals?"

"Nope… Just some noisy static…" Yamamoto said, shaking his head.

The Storm guardian furrowed his brows, leaning against a wall. "We have to get out of here, but we don't have a map…"

We didn't really have a map from the start anyway!-"

"Move…" A crackled voice said through Gokudera's communicator. His eyes widened and looked around suspiciously. He didn't feel any other presence nearby… Turning towards Yamamoto, he knew at once that Yamamoto heard it as well.

"Now it really feels like a haunted house… Ahaha…" Yamamoto laughed nervously, his eyes flitting around, katana gripped tightly in his hand.

Their communicators suddenly crackled again and this time, there was a sound of someone breathing. Gokudera quickly grabbed Yamamoto by the wrist, pulling him along. "We have to get out of here, right now." He said, panic evident in his voice. "Don't get scared, i-idiot. We might have to fight our way out."

"I can't help it… I erm… I don't really like horror movies." Yamamoto muttered as he followed Gokudera's pace. Suddenly, his face turned pale as the blood drained from his face. "G-Gokudera… Behind!..."

Gokudera turned his head and saw that the light behind them were off and it was complete darkness, as if it swallowed every inch of light. "Shit." He cursed. "Run!" Both started to run and when they looked back again, the darkness followed them.

"At least we know the lights weren't faulty!"

"Shut up and run!"

The darkness was catching up to them and being the athlete, Yamamoto ran ahead, pulling Gokudera's cold, clammy hands. "Hey, are you afraid? I thought you believed in weird stuff!"

"I believe in UMAs, not ghosts, stupid! Not that this is a ghost… And I was not scared! I'm just worried! We don't know how juudaime and the others are coping! What if they're facing the same situation as us? We don't even know what this thing is or what it can do!"

Yamamoto gave a weak smile and kept quiet, holding back the statement about the black shadows being the work of a ghost. He knew Gokudera was right, about Tsuna's situation that is. All of a sudden, Yamamoto slowed down, muttering, "Oh boy."

"Oi! Don't slow d- What the hell?" Gokudera turned to the front and saw that the black shadow was coming from the front as well.

Both soon stopped in their tracks as the shadow continued to press forward. "What do we do?..."

"What do we do? We fight back as juudaime's awesome Vongola guardians! Gah! Why didn't I think of that?" Gokudera took out his dynamites, lighted them and threw them into the darkness. There was a loud explosion and when the smoke cleared, the shadow was still intact like it had been before. Gokudera's face fell and turned to Yamamoto. _Now what?_

"We let it take us!" Yamamoto said with a grin. "Don't let go okay?"

"What?"

Before Gokudera could say anymore, The darkness enveloped them and all they could see were themselves and not each other. "Hey, idiot! You still there?"

"Yeap!" came the reply. Suddenly, a force started pulling them apart. Their fingers loosened and soon, they were separated. "Gokudera!"

_His voice sounded distant…_ Gokudera thought, looking around. He heard grunts and shouted back, "Are you being attacked?"

"I guess so!..." A slash of a sword was sounded. "But I can't see them!"

_An invisible enemy? No… It's the shadow itself! But what can be done to dispel it?..._ Gokudera ran his fingers through his silver hair and that was when he saw his Vongola ring. _Flames… That's it!_ _That might just work…_ "Yamamoto! Spread your Rain flame around the area! Make it as strong as possible!"

Yamamoto raised a brow but chose not to question him. Coating his katana with his flames, he closed his eyes and brought up his katana. Opening his eyes with fierce determination, he brought down the weapon, stabbing it hard into the ground. Ripples of blue flames were formed and tightening his grip, more and more rain flames were ejected. His Vongola ring flared intensely, never wavering. The tranquility attribute of his flames started to slow down the attacks on Yamamoto till they were no more. At the strongest point on the ground where his flames were ejected onto, the black flames slowly dissipated, showing the dirty red carpet of the hallway. _It's working!_

Using his flame covered sword, he slashed vertically at the ground, destroying whatever remained of it and the rest of the darkness faded away, leaving behind the ruined hallway.

Gokudera smirked as he brought out his custom-made dynamites. He knew altering them was the right decision! The dynamites had no gunpowder and were completely empty inside. However, it was made to contain flames instead so Gokudera lit up his Vongola ring and inserted it into the hole at the top of the stick, similar to those of the Box Weapons. Feeling his Storm flames fill up each stick, he took a step back. _Let's see how this works out since this is just a prototype! _He flung the dynamite sticks across the dark empty space and covered his ears. As soon as the dynamites touched the ground, they simultaneously exploded widely with a deafening blow and he could see the disintegration attribute of the Storm flames do its thing, eating away at the black flames. Soon, all the black flames disappeared, leaving the charred area of the hallway.

"Hah! Take that, Scuro Vampa bastards! Your copycat flame is no match for the original Flames of the Sky!" Gokudera announced proudly.

"Hey Gokudera! That was awesome! How did you know about the way to get rid of them?" Yamamoto asked as he ran towards the bomber.

"It was the concentration of our flames! The stronger our will, the more powerful it gets and of course, it managed to overpower those shitty flames! Those black flames were spread over a wide area so it was easier to get rid of them!"

"Cool…" _At least this explanation was easier to understand than his usual ones_… "Well, let's go find Tsuna and the others! They should get this information too!"

~~~~~~~.

Black spheres shot out from all directions, heading towards the lone figure. Grey eyes narrowed as the figure dodged them with ease. He jumped over another speeding sphere and swung a tonfa, knocking away another sphere. Hibari was about to swing his other tonfa but stopped short when he realized that when the black flames came into contact with his weapons, it had corroded it slightly.

He frowned as he stared at his blemished tonfas. "How dare you ruin my weapons." He hissed. "… And for that, I will bite you to death." Hibari dashed forward, avoiding the attacks which were getting faster and faster by the second. Chains lashed out from the ends of his tonfas, crashing into both sides of the walls. Soon, the walls came crashing down behind the Cloud guardian, blocking the attacks from behind. Hibari smirked as he continued running. _No turning back. Let's see how you catch me._

"Cowards. Come out and face me yourself." Hibari said to no one in particular. Cloud flames laced the chains as they continued to destroy the walls behind. Suddenly, his senses heightened and he felt something nearby. The prefect's anger rose when he couldn't pinpoint the exact location of the presence. The cloud flames on his chains became larger and the next area that he swung his chain, completely collapsed, leading to another hallway. Hibari arched a brow and retracted his chains back to his tonfas. Treading over the debris carefully, he entered the new hallway and saw that it was completely different from the one he was just in. Old paintings and portraits with the faces scratched out lined the walls and lights flickered ominously. Some of the paintings swayed even though there was no wind but Hibari was unfazed. He merely raised his tonfas and went into a defensive stance, which was quite unlike him since he would always be the first to hit his opponent in most situations. He knew how a poor defense could cost him so he wasn't about to take any chances, not after what the omnivore had told him last night.

"_Hibari!..."_

_The prefect stopped in his tracks and without turning around, he said, "What?"_

_Hibari heard Tsuna taking in a deep breath and exhaling sharply. A little while later, shuffling of feet was heard and Hibari was starting to feel irritated. Why was the herbivore hesitating at a time like this?_

"_The Scuro Vampa… Is not to be underestimated." Tsuna finally said. Hibari was about to reply but the brunet cut him off. "I know it's pretty stupid in telling _you_ tha,t but I'm serious about this."_

"_What makes you think I will lose?"_

"_Wh -What? No, no! I didn't mean that at all… Hibari… I know how your pride is important and your fighting style is direct and powerful. You are strong and I have never ever doubted that but I'm trying to tell you that our enemy will be just as strong and they might not even play fair."_

_Hibari snorted. "Then I'll crush their pathetic tricks. I'm not some fifteen year old brainless herbivore."_

"… _Hibari! Look, never mind. Just keep in mind this. Be wary of everything. Not everything is so straightforward. I'm telling you this because I know you. Your fighting style, your battles, your _losses_…"_

_The Cloud guardian perked up at the last few words of the omnivore and pivoted round on his heel to glare at Tsuna. When they were face to face, Hibari noticed that Tsuna was looking tired… or rather, mentally exhausted. Deciding to hold back his words, he settled for, "You. Watch your own back." Satisfied with his words, he turned to leave, not noticing a slight smile on Tsuna's face_

"_I'll try…" the Decimo whispered._

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><p><strong>Hey guys! Just wanna let you know that this isn't the only fight they'll be getting into, in case you thought Yamamoto and Gokudera got it easy :) The next chapter should be completely about the happenings on Tsuna's side so I hope you're looking forward to it! Future chapters are going to be pretty irregular since school is starting (ARGH NOOOO!) and I've been forbidden to write when school starts... (NEVER! I'll never stop!)<strong>

**So thanks for reading and ciao everyone!**

**Oh and drop a review? :) I MIGHT post the Arcobaleno story sooner lol.**


	19. Internal Turmoil

_**Interal turmoil**_

Light filtered in through the tattered, translucent curtain, shining on to the sleeping face of Tsuna. He slowly cracked open his eyes and scanning his blurry surroundings, he knew something was off. When his vision became clearer, he sat up on the couch he was lying on and looked around the room he was in. There was a large bookshelf in front of him but most of the files- some scorched and torn- seemed to have fallen on the floor messily and beside it, was a large mahogany desk. It was dusty and bare except for a few pieces of paper which were half burnt and a phone which looked abused, as if someone had been slamming it multiple times. The curtains were dirty and had bullet holes in them, making Tsuna frown. _Where is this place?..._ Suddenly, he saw a card on the floor and when he picked the card up and read the name, it dawned upon him. This was the Vongola Decimo's office which was previously occupied by Ryumin Kyohei. Why was he here? And why was it so run-down? He stood up immediately and went to the door, opening it. He had a bad feeling about this and no doubt, his intuition was right.

Dead bodies greeted him in the familiar hallways, the coppery smell of blood filling his nostrils. The Decimo took a step out, eyes widened with horror as he stepped over the debris. He walked down the hallway briskly, his hands tightening in anticipation. _I have to confirm this… If I am really where and when I think I am. _A little while later, he had finally reached the basement where the time machine was and kicked open the bloodied door.

Tsuna entered the dimly lit room and saw the machine… With Spanner's and Shoichi's bodies beside it. Both had fatal stab wounds on them and near the machine, there was a torn piece of black cloth with part of the Scuro Vampa insignia on it and below it was the name, 'Mikoyose Benigno'. _Miko… Was our enemy all along?... But why couldn't my Hyper Intuition warn me as usual?... And usually Reborn would be onto it… What's going on? _As he was about to pick it up, he spotted a familiar figure slouched over in a corner and when he got closer, Tsuna's blood turned cold. He took a stiff step forward and when he got closer, he knelt down in front of the body and gently picked up the hand with a ring on it.

_B-But how?... Tsukiyo… She went back to the past didn't she?_ Tsuna continued to stare at the severely cracked Armonia famiglia Mist ring. A sword was stabbed in her stomach and in her other clenched hand was a torn piece of cloth similar to the one he saw earlier. Tsuna gently pulled out the sword and set the body down to the ground. _I'm sorry…_ The Decimo stood up and left the room with a heavy heart. _What actually happened?... Didn't they make it out safely? If they didn't, who were the current ones assuming their identities?_

Suddenly a voice similar to his own but much more eerie sounded in his mind. **"What you have been seeing were just illusions formed by your comrade… Which will disappear once all the mist flames are drained from her body… Thus the cracked ring…"**

Tsuna spun around, eyes narrowed as he scanned the cold, empty surroundings for the person that spoke. "Who's there?" he shouted. At that point he noticed that his voice was much deeper and he quickly picked up a gleaming dagger on the ground, looking at his reflection.

He was his normal self again.

Tsuna was back to his adult self. He was now taller and had his messy brown hair with matching kind hazel eyes. To his horror, the lips in his reflection twitched to form a smirk and at once, Tsuna dropped the weapon.

"**They're dead, they're all dead!"**

"Be quiet! Show yourself!" Tsuna yelled, his Sky flames igniting on his forehead and his gloves.

"**Did you know? While you're back in your own time safe and sound, your friends and guardians are fighting it out in the past?" **The voice said with a chuckle.

Tsuna clenched his fists, taking a step back. "What did you do to them? What is your goal?"

"**What did I do? Oh I did absolutely nothing! Because…"**

"**I'm you."**

"Stop your lies, Scuro Vampa!" Tsuna sent a blast of flames towards a wall before running off. _I need to find someone… Anyone…_

"**Lies? Deep inside everyone, there's darkness. No matter how nice or caring or forgiving one is. And you're no exception, Sawada Tsunayoshi…"**

Tsuna ignored the voice and continued running. _There has to be someone… The Ninth! Or even the Varia!_ Making his way towards the Ninth's office, he switched on his communicator. "Reborn? Are you there? Gokudera! Yamamoto! Can anyone here me?" After a few seconds, only static sounds were heard but when it cackled for a while, the dark voice returned.

"**Don't be silly, you're back in your time, how are you going to communicate with them? Technology isn't that advanced you know. I wonder how your friends are coping…"**

"I said shut up, didn't I?" Tsuna growled. Reaching the Ninth's office, he flung open the door and stumbled in to the sight of an empty bloodied chair. "What the…"

"**Oh, the old man is dead by the way. After all of you selfishly left for the past, everyone here met their demise! Such great leadership from the Vongola Decimo and Armonia Primo huh?"**

Tsuna placed a trembling hand on the large desk, his glassy brown eyes staring at the seat where the Ninth once sat. _Grandpa…_

"**Of course, it was obvious that things would have come to this point. After all, you were never really there with the Vongola and your friends cum guardians. Starting the Armonia up from scratch was no easy task, and most of your attention was on the Armonia."**

Tsuna's fingers scratched against the hard wood as they curled into a tight ball. It was true though; most of his time was spent trying to build the Armonia famiglia up and the most he could do for his friends was to call them once in a blue moon to reassure them that he was coming back but that was it.

"**You couldn't really be there for them, could you? You would never know if they were unhappy, angry, or frustrated. Even if they were, they probably told you that they were fine, didn't they?"**

A blast of flames was sent out, destroying the part of the office. "I cared for them! I was worried about them! What do you know about me? You think I wanted all this to happen?" Tsuna growled, turning to leave the office. That was it. He was not going to let some stupid voice get to him and control him. He had to find a way out and back to the past where he could reunite with his friends so they could all go back to their own time and live their lives again.

"**You might not have wanted this but your choices made it happen. Did you ever stop to think about your friend's feelings? It may only have been a few years of separation but did you ever think about how unhappy they were under their new leader? Or if anything had happened to them but kept it from you? Your Hyper Intuition isn't a know-it-all, you know. You depend too much on it."**

Tsuna cringed a little at the statement, knowing that there was some truth in it. He trusted his intuition and had never really doubted it. Maybe completely relying on it wasn't such a good idea. "Why do you know so much? Are you some spy?"

"**I told you already. I'm you. I'm your dark side. I'm that little devil sitting on your shoulder with all your negativity in hand. Sound weird but absolutely true, Sawada Tsunayoshi."**

Tsuna ran as fast as he could to where he thought was the exit. When he had finally reached the large double doors of the Vongola's front entranced, he lightened up but as he pulled them open, he got a shock. Instead of facing the porch of the mansion with luscious green grass all around or even more dead bodies lying haphazardly around, he was met with a wall of black. It looked similar to black sludge from the viscosity which was obvious by the slow movement. "What is this?" Tsuna yelled in a frustrated voice, slamming shut the doors, partially afraid of the sludge coming in.

"**I am certainly not trying to trap or stop you, if that was what you were thinking. Besides, I'm you and I'm in your mind, I can't do anything except speak."**

The voice had a slyness to it which infuriated Tsuna even more. Tsuna could not understand what was going on and he wanted answers. Now. He was about send an XX-burner through the wall but when he raised his hands, readying his stance, he caught sight of something that shouldn't be there. In place of the Vongola ring, the Scuro Vampa ring was there, glinting innocently under the artificial light. "What is this?" Tsuna tried to pry the ring off but no matter how hard he twisted and pulled, the ring was stuck firmly on his slender finger. "What did you do?" Tsuna hissed, giving up on removing the ring to make his way towards one of the windows.

"**Once again, I did not do anything. You were the one who put it on, didn't you?"**

"I did, but not on this hand!" The supposed voice in his mind said something again but Tsuna ignored it as he turned back to send a blast into the black sludge. The Sky flames were absorbed in a flash and returned to it's normal state. The brunet hissed at his failure and ran towards a window. Opening it, he was disappointed once again when he was met with the same black sludge covering the opening_. Not again… Is there no way out?_

After thinking for a while, he suddenly remembered that there was light coming from the window in the Vongola Decimo's office. Tsuna smirked and ran off again towards the office. This was seriously becoming a nightmare and every second here was making him uncomfortable. He was starting to feel the dark aura that was the exact same as when he stared at the black ring for too long the last time and he knew that the clock was ticking. He needed to get out. His heart raced with fear, a strange desperation clutching within him.

"**You know… Your friends could be dead."**

Tsuna stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes narrowed as a flash of orange streaked through his normally brown eyes. "What the hell do you know?"

"**Just because you trust them, doesn't mean that they trust you. You were separated from them for quite a while-"**

"Can you just shut up?"

"**-and just because you were their juudaime, their Tsuna, their Tsu-kun, and their Tsunayoshi in the past, doesn't mean that it has stayed the same till now. You may have watched them but are you sure that's enough?"**

Ignoring the stupid voice in his head, he kicked open the door where the sunlight shone but when he laid his eyes on the window, he fell to his knees, his eyes still fixated on the window where his final hope was supposed to be.

There was no light.

There was no sunshine and that meant no escape. The black sludge had completely taken over. _What… What the hell is this?... This isn't an illusion…_

"**Obviously. You're afraid, aren't you?"**

Tsuna's fingers clenched and his nails dug into his palms as his tightly shut eyes were shadowed by his hair. The aura was starting to overwhelm him and he had a strong urge to throw up. _I should have known from the start that this was a trap…_

"**A trap which you brought upon yourself…"**

Tsuna hand rose to his mouth as he fought back the urge to throw up again. The smell of blood was one smell he loathed and hoped to never smell it again.

"**You never did like the smell of blood, did you?"**

The voice lowered to a whisper and resounded throughout Tsuna's mind. "**None of this would have happened if you hadn't made those choices… What you thought was the best option turned out to be the worst. What you thought was right, was actually wrong. You don't really know what you're doing, do you? You're letting your friends and your family down…"**

"Shut… UP!" Tsuna pushed himself up and dashed. _I… I can't take this! I need to… To get out… Danger… Here… It's… It's affecting me… _He went back to the entrance of the mansion and this time, the doors were wide open, as if inviting him to enter.

"Bring… It… On…" With that said, he charged straight into the darkness and disappeared past the doors.

~~~~~~~.

Lambo trembled in fear as he stood next to Chrome and in front of Mukuro, making sure that he wasn't standing too close which would mean that he was scared.

Well, hell yes, he was scared. He was injured and bleeding in the arm and he just wanted to go home and sleep. They couldn't even see their enemy plus the fact that Chrome and Mukuro were not really in tip top shape to do battle any longer with some stupid invisible spider.

"Any ideas?" Mukuro said, casting a temporary shield from illusions.

"Why can't we just destroy this stupid place?" Lambo whined, pressing a small hand to his wound while holding back a cry.

A sigh left Mukuro's lips as he concentrated on detecting the spider. "We'll be crushed along with the monster if we do that. Besides…" Before Mukuro could complete his sentence, a force threw him back a few metres away from the group, smashing him against the wall. Mukuro clicked his tongue with frustration as he used his trident to stab the invisible spider. Vines suddenly shot up and wrapped themselves around the spider, tightening its vice grip on it which caused an ear-piercing shriek from the monster.

Lambo's eyes widened as he looked at Chrome, then to the vines, then back at her again. "You can see it?"

Chrome shook her head. "I just guessed." The vines wrapped themselves even more tightly than before but all of a sudden, visible black flames erupted from the spider and the illusions broke. Black strands which looked like spider webs shot out at a high speed, aiming at Chrome and Lambo who were stuck firm to the ground. "T-There's a black substance at our feet!"

Sure enough, when Lambo looked down, he saw that his small feet were glued to the ground by some sticky black goo. The child turned his head round frantically, searching for anything or even anyone to help them. Mukuro was currently occupied with trying to push the spider off him while Chrome raised her own trident with her eyes shut tight, using it as a shield. Lambo let loose a small bolt of lightning around him despite the throbbing pain in his arm and the volts managed to dislodge his feet from the goo. _I'm free!... But Chrome! Oh no!_ "Chrooooooooome!" Lambo cried out, tugging at her leg to pull her out. There was no point if he was the only one escaping so might as well suffer together right? That's what families are for, right? As the strands neared them, Lambo whimpered softly, hugging Chrome's slender leg. "HEEEEELP!"

A slash sounded in front of them and when they slowly opened their eyes, they could see the strands being cut off and rivulets of Rain flames disappearing.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey everyone! From today onwards, chapters are going to be really slow since school is starting... Urgh. I won't go on a hiatus unless necessary but this story will probably be done by then.<strong>

**Anonymous review replies now!**

**Hey lyshi! Thank you so much! I really appreciate your review! XD It really made me oh so happy! By the way, you're the 100th reviewer!**

**Thanks for reading and review yeah? Reading reviews always makes me happy ^^~**

**Ciao!**


	20. The Shadows are lurking

**Save the stoning for the end where the A/N is XD And I'M REALLY SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT! T_T**

**Enjoy and Review!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>The shadows are lurking<strong>_

"Do you even know where we're going?" Gokudera asked for the third time as they ran through the hallways noisily.

"No, not really!" Yamamoto replied cheerfully. "But we're bound to end up somewhere, right? What's the worst that could happen?"

Gokudera rolled his eyes and was about to hurl an insult but a blinking fluorescent bulb further up caught his eye. "Look! Stairs!" They quickened their pace and reached the flight of stairs which looked normal compared to the hallway they were attacked in. "Hurry up! We have to find juudaime!" They dashed up the stairs and as they were about to turn a corner, a familiar voice was heard.

"Chroooooome!"

"That sounds like… Lambo! Isn't it?" Yamamoto commented, his sword unsheathed and ready at hand.

"HEEEEELP!"

Gokudera shot Yamamoto a look and the swordsman nodded knowingly, running ahead of Gokudera. His Rain flame lightly coated his sword and as he turned the corner, he saw a spider wrestling with Mukuro and thick black strands shooting out from its back in the direction of Chrome and Lambo. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to reach them in time, he swung his sword, sending a wave of the blue flames towards the strands, effectively cutting them.

Mukuro finally managed to push the spider off and into the air, hoping he would be able to spear it with his trident. However, it missed by less than an inch and as it was about to fall and recover, Gokudera appeared from the corner and threw his Storm flame dynamites at it, completely blowing it up with enough force to push Mukuro back a little.

The spider was defeated at last and the three sighed in relief, thankful that it was over. Chrome slumped and placed a hand on Lambo comfortingly. "It's okay now…"

"That was so easy, how could the three of you not have defeated it?" Gokudera sneered, arching a brow. "I didn't think Mukuro there couldn't handle it."

"For your information," Mukuro started, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "The spider became invisible and unnoticeable to us when we were cut by it. No thanks to the black flames coating it."

"Black flames?... The one we encountered was like a shadow and enveloped the entire area!" Yamamoto said. "I guess the black stuff has many forms."

"No shit." Gokudera muttered, rolling his eyes. "I would hate to think what other forms that creepy flame can change in to. Anyway, we should go find that Hibari and Ryohei and heal your wounds."

Lambo whimpered again at the mentioning of wounds and slumped to the ground. "I'm tired…" Chrome gently picked him up and adjusted the child in her arms, gently rocking him.

"Let's go…"

~~~~~~~.

Hibari stood still, eyes scanning his surroundings for any change. His grip on his tonfas tightened and his eyes narrowed. "Show yourself."

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew from the front and Hbari had to shield his eyes with his arm. As the wind died down, a ghostly apparition floated out from one of the large portraits and turned towards Hibari.

"Hibari Kyoya… Vongola Decimo's Cloud guardian…" whispered the pale figure, red eyes glowing brighter.

The prefect merely grunted, and said without a hint of fear, "I follow no one. For leading me around in circles, be prepared to be bitten to death, ghost or not." Hibari charged forward, tonfas ready to strike.

The ghost sidestepped and dodged the blows calmly. "If you do not follow orders, then why are you here?"

"I came on my own accord." One of Hibari's tonfa went straight for the ghost but a pale hand grabbed it, swinging him over. Hibari crashed into the wall, letting out a growl as his head knocked against the elaborate portrait frame. He got up slowly, readying his tonfas once more. This time, cloud flames coated his weapons and when he swung a tonfa, a chain lashed out towards the enemy. Cold grey eyes narrowed. That thing was not a ghost. If he could bite it to death, then it was definitely not a ghost.

The chain looped round the figure's arm and Hibari quickly tugged it sharply, pulling the enemy towards him. Raising his other spiked tonfa, he closed the distance between them and threw an uppercut.

The figure let out a snarl and tried to block it but the prefect was much faster and managed to strike the apparition's face. Hibari smirked and continued to rain strikes on the stunned enemy but at the fifth hit, he knew it wouldn't be that simple. As Hibari was about to step back, he saw the figure's hand change into a spear.

The enemy tried to stab Hibari in the abdomen but the guardian had already stepped back slightly, cause the spear to slash Hibari's arm instead.

The prefect winced, his chain reeling back into his tonfa. Ignoring the pain in his arm, he charged forward once more. However, the figure jumped into one of the portraits and disappeared. Hibari stopped in his tracks and glanced around. He could still feel the aura of the enemy, meaning that the enemy was just hiding and biding his time.

Suddenly, a shadow flew out from a portrait behind Hibari and threw a punch. The guardian quickly sensed it and pivoted round to block the blow with his tonfas. With that, the figure retreated back into the portrait again.

"Cowardly herbivore." Hibari growled. "If you're going to hide in those paintings, then I'll just destroy them all." He brought up his weapons and swung them, causing chains to lash out, destroying the paintings on both sides of the wall. The figure immediately jumped out from one but as it was about to attack, Hibari was suddenly in front of it and slammed the spiked tonfa onto its face, throwing the figure back. A low rumble was heard but neither party took notice of it.

~~~~~~~.

"What extremely happened here?" Ryohei exclaimed as he got up from the floor. As soon as those words were spoken, a boulder started rolling from behind, causing the ground to shake a little. Ryohei turned and when he saw it rolling towards him, he raised his fist. "Maximum Canon!" The boulder broke into pieces but as Ryohei looked closer, he saw a gooey black substance pulling the pieces back together. As soon as it was formed back, it continued to roll towards the guardian.

"What was that?" Ryohei quickly turned and ran, hoping to find a way out. "I can't believe I was knocked out like that!"

"Oh yeah? Believe it." A voice said.

Ryohei's eyes widened and looked around. "THE ROOM IS TALKING!"

"… The room isn't talking, you nitwit!" A loud grinding was heard and when Ryohei turned to have a look, he saw the boulder forming into a grey rock-like figure which started running.

"Eh? You're a human?" Ryohei looked shocked beyond comprehension and even slowed down to stare. "You were a rock! You're an extreme rockman!"

The 'rockman' as dubbed by the Sun guardian, rolled his beady eyes and swung his arm, hurling rocks covered in a black flame. Ryohei swiftly dodged a few and punching the remaining rocks.

He managed to destroy them but the flames that he had come into contact with had burned his fists. It stung but Ryohei knew he should get going before anything else happened. He needed to go find Tsuna and the others to protect them! What if they were in danger to the extreme? Using his sun flames to heal his hands, he decided to try and outrun the 'rockman'.

"You can't get away that easily!"

"No harm giving it a try!" Ryohei shouted back as he dashed off_. Hmm, might as well slow that rockman down to the extreme!_ "Maximum Cannon!" he yelled, punching the walls beside him. The wall came crashing down behind Ryohei, blocking the path.

The figure growled and changed into a boulder to charge through the debris. "And you call yourself the Vongola sun guardian with such stupid tactics! No wonder your boss is just as pathetic to the point that he's in trouble.

Ryohei stopped immediately. "What did you do to Sawada?" _I should have been more alert just now!_

"That's for you to find out! Of course, if I don't kill you first, that is." The boulder continued rolling with its speed increasing at a fast rate.

Ryohei's eyes narrowed as he balled his fists. "How dare you hurt my little brother! Sawada still has to join my boxing club! And when we get back to our time, we're going to have matches!"

The boulder which was now covered in black flames snorted and didn't bother to slow down. "Are you even sure you'll get back to your time?"

There was no reply as Ryohei concentrated his power to his fists which were now glowing a pale yellow. The distance between Ryohei and the boulder was closing fast and the sun flames on Ryohei's fists were glowing brighter.

"Maximum… Cannon to the extreme!" The boxer punched and a blast of sun flames shot out directly towards the boulder. The blast barely pushed back the boulder but the flames managed to engulf the large rock.

As the flames dissipated, what was left of the enemy was the human form of the boulder with cracks all over, the black flames seeping through it. "You!... How?..."

"Sawada told me before that to be strong, your resolve must first be strong!" Ryohei shouted with a grin as he pumped his fist in the air. "And now… Time to go!" with that, he turned and sped off.

"You are not getting away!" the rock man said before staggering after him.

_Since he's weaker now, maybe I can try that tactic again to shake him off…_ Ryohei thought, nodding to himself. Punching the walls again, the same thing happened but since the wall at that point was weaker, a gaping hole was left in its place. The rock man avoided the falling debris and picked up his pace, managing to get past.

"Hah! You think you can pull off the same trick tw- Ack!"

Ryohei stopped again when he heard the strangled cry. Jogging back slightly, he saw a chain covered in thick purple flames coming out from the hole and straight into the rock man's chest, slamming it against the wall and dragging it across. The overload of flames further cracked the rock man and it eventually broke and disintegrated.

_Wow, Hibari must be really angry!_ "Hibari! What a coincidence!... And you're injured!"

Hibari growled in acknowledgement and swung his other tonfa through the hole, revealing a black figure entangled in the chains. Hibari the figure against the wall as well and Ryohei at once sent a blow towards it, hitting it in the face.

The face cracked and when two red jewels dropped out from the eye, the shadows dissipated. "That was… extreme?"

Hibari grunted and walked towards the red jewel, crushing them under his foot. "Lousy herbivores. Let's go."

Continuing on their way in silence, not counting Ryohei's 'extreme!' when he saw the weird paintings and portraits on the wall, they did not encounter any enemy at all. "Really fishy…" the Sun guardian commented. Hibari just rolled his eyes and kept silent.

After wandering around, they heard familiar voices. "Hey I think that's octopus-head!" Ryohei exclaimed excitedly.

"…I think I just heard that idiot turf-top…" a voice groaned.

The pair turned the corner and saw the group walking towards a large mahogany door. "Ryohei! Could you heal Lambo over here? He's in a bad shape after the previous battle…" Yamamoto said, waving the sun guardian over.

"No problem!"

Chrome stared at the door silently, her single eye wary about what might happen behind the door. "I have a bad feeling about this…" she muttered to herself as she glanced over to Mukuro who was also frowning at the huge ominous door.

When Lambo had been healed, Gokudera took a step forward and placed a hand on the handle of the door. "Ready?"

All nodded simultaneously.

"Right…" Gokudera pushed the door open and at once, the completely dark room lighted up dimly. A collective gasp was heard as all eyes fell onto the lone figure standing in the middle of the room, a blank look in his dull brown eyes.

"J-Juudaime?..."

* * *

><p><strong>SO SO SO SORRY for the long wait, the cliff hanger, and the short chapter!... It breaks my heart to update so infrequently! I haven't been writing much because of school commitments so my writing might have deteriorated... And with 3 stories on hand, updating is like waiting for Ryohei to be an emo.<strong>

**I'm pretty sure I've replied to most of your reviews so if I didn't, I apologise. I usually update my stories in a cycle so it goes like this: TSR, Lovely Madness, and Arcobaleno Parenting. This is just to be fair to all the stories XD**

**Anyway, I love you guys! Reading reviews and seeing faves/alerts make me epic happy, even with all the projects and crap in school! Feel free to ask questions or anything!  
><strong>

**Hope to see you soon! :)**

**P.S, yeah I changed the ratings to T ... Thanks for telling me, Tsuna4Cn4s! :)  
><strong>


	21. Cracks of Light

_**Cracks of Light**_

The guardians couldn't believe their eyes. They had finally found Tsuna but he was just standing there in the centre of an unlit room, his head tilted downwards.

"Juudaime! You're alright!..."

"Tsuna?..." Chrome called out hesitantly. Something was definitely off.

Their boss slowly lifted his head, showing the guardians his dull brown eyes and made no effort of acknowledging them, as if his guardians were complete strangers.

"This... Isn't Tsuna." Yamamoto said quietly, drawing his sword. "What have you done to Tsuna?! Where is he?!" the swordsman yelled uncharacteristically, slightly startling some of the other guardians. It was rare of Yamamoto to get so worked up and when he did, the matter was definitely serious.

At this point, all of the guardians were ready with their weapons, eyes scrutinising every movement of the brunet.

"Oh he's the real deal alright," a low voice rumbled, echoing throughout the room. Everyone went on high alert, their senses heightening. "But now, he's your enemy. Either you kill him, or die by his hands. Have fun."

Suddenly, a flame erupted from Tsuna's forehead. But instead of the bright orange flame, a sickening black flame took its place. Said flames appeared on his gloves and when the Decimo looked up, there was only one look his dull eyes were showing.

The intent to kill.

_I... I can't harm Juudaime... I can't!_ Gokudera thought, taking a step back. "Is he... Possessed?..."

"No, he's not." Mukuro stated calmly, "I think it's one of that black flame's abilities which is to lock up the mind and soul. It looks like we'll just have to wake him up then."

A slight grin formed on Hibari's face as he raised his tonfas. "Enough talking. Let's see how strong this herbivore is." With that said, he charged forward and swung his tonfa at Tsuna's face.

Tsuna sidestepped and caught the incoming tonfa but Hibari quickly threw an uppercut with his other weapon. That powerful blow threw Tsuna back but he quickly got back on his feet, dashing towards Hibari as if nothing happened.

"I would like to extremely fight with Sawada but not like this! How do we wake him up?!" Ryohei yelled as he watched the intense fight between Tsuna and Hibari.

"It will depend mainly on Boss himself..." Chrome muttered.

~~~~~~~.

"Where am I?" Tsuna said aloud as he wandered aimlessly in the darkness.

"Your mind." a voice said. Tsuna turned around but saw nothing. He was about to activate his Dying Will flames but found that he couldn't and when he glanced at his ring, he realised it was the Scuro Vampa ring instead of his Vongola ring.

"What have you done to me?! Where are my friends?!" Tsuna yelled angrily as he went into a battle stance. _I remember I was in my time again... And I jumped through the black sludge thing..._

"You think you're capable enough? Think again." Suddenly, mirrors appeared all around and reflected the image of Tsuna but the reflection showed Tsuna with a cold, chilling smile. "Your pathetic Armonia famiglia was useless to begin with. Creating a new family was a foolish idea. Did you really think it would work out that easily?" The reflection said, his voice sending chills down Tsuna's spine.

"Enough!" the Decimo growled. "I have my friends back, and there's nothing you can do to take them away from me!"

"At the expense of your new famiglia." the reflection chuckled.

"Wh-What?"

A smirk formed on the reflection's face as he said softly, "Just getting all of you here and out, they had to sacrifice themselves. Isn't that sad?"

"You... You won't get away with this!" Tsuna dashed off, turning round the corners of the mirrors, only to be met with more of the accursed glass where his reflection laughed. Everywhere he went, there were only mirrors, mirrors, and more mirrors. _What kind of sick joke is this!_ Tsuna screamed inside, making extra effort to not look at the mirrors. All of a sudden, the reflection of him changed to a scene of his friends. Tsuna froze on the spot and turned with wide eyes. Gokudera was looking positively livid while Yamamoto was holding him back with a frown on his face.

"If only you had done something, then they wouldn't have to go through all that with Ryumin Kyohei, no?"

Tsuna kept silent as he watched on as the scene changed to Chrome, looking dejectedly at a small photograph.

"They were counting on you, you know that?"

Tsuna gritted his teeth, letting his hair shadow his eyes. "You don't know anything."

"That girl you trusted, she betrayed you. Miko betrayed all of you. And it was your fault." as the voice said it, the mirrors all turned back to normal, except for the one in front of Tsuna.

"There's was no other choice! I tried already! You think you can do it better?!" Tsuna seethed, his fists clenched tightly.

"You are the-"

"Shut up, shut up! Shut up!" he yelled, punching the mirror in front of him which showed a blurry figure. However, a sickening squelch sounded and Tsuna stopped, his hand feeling slightly warm and damp. _W-What... Happened?..._ As he drew his arm out, he caught sight of ruby liquid coating his arm. Drops of blood dripped onto the black floor, the sound echoing in his ears. _So much blood from breaking a mirror?..._

Tsuna gulped, his head slowly tilting up to see the reflection of the broken mirror. Brown eyes widened with horror as he saw not himself, but Miko, in the mirror.

~~~~~~~.

Reborn made his way towards the mansion where Tsuna and the others were, despite everyone's warnings. "Idiot Tsuna," Reborn muttered. "You can't act like a hero all the time."

Upon reaching the entrance, he turned on his communicator. "Irie, I want a connection to Tsuna and the others but the priority is that idiot. Understood?"

"Y-Yes Reborn!"

The infant's communicator crackled for a bit but died off just as fast. "What's going on?" Reborn asked.

"It'll be difficult to connect to Tsuna, but we will be able to connect to Yamamoto and the others in a minute."

With that said, the communicator buzzed for a while before sounds of grunting and explosions sounded. "Yamamoto. This is Reborn."

"Ah! Reborn! Finally! We couldn't contact anyone at all!" another explosion sounded in the background.

"What's going on now?" Reborn asked as he quickened his pace.

"Ahaha... It seems like we're in a bit of a pinch... You see, we're fighting against Tsuna."

"What?" Reborn hissed. "Why?"

"It's the horrible power of that stupid flame!" Lambo shouted into his communicator. "It's making Tsuna attack us!"

"And... We don't exactly want to kill him." Mukuro added.

Damn it... "Irie, change of plans. I don't want you to find where the guardians are. I want the location of the damn Scuro Vampa boss. Now."

~~~~~~~.

_Tsuna gulped, his head slowly tilting up to see the reflection of the broken mirror. Brown eyes widened with horror as he saw not himself, but Miko, in the mirror._

She looked equally as shocked when she saw the hand through her stomach.  
>"How... Could this... Happen?... Father... Why?..." she croaked, falling to her knees.<p>

Tsuna immediately stepped and looked at his bloody hand. The Scuro Vampa ring had morphed into a spike, which was why his hand went through the body easily.

"M-Miko?..." he uttered fearfully. _I... Killed her?_ What he didn't expect was for Miko to give a faint smile.

"I... Deserved it... B-Betrayal runs in... The family... To Kyohei... Then now me... I should have known... Your friends... They're incredible, you know? Your Armonia family... They put up a good fight... Didn't expect... Them to sacrifice..." She paused, desperately trying to catch her breath. Tsuna kept silent throughout, unsure of whether to comfort or to lash out. That means... Tsukiyo and the others?...

"This is your mind..." she continued, even though she was short of breath already. "The only reason why I can die here is because... I am the black flames itself. I am the years of experimentation my father has done and I can't say I'm fully human... My weakness would be the black flames which I myself am made of..." she glanced at the ominous ring and shook her head. _All that I have done for the Family... It doesn't matter anymore..._ "Since I have no use left, I might as well tell you that to get out of here... You need resolve. Good... Luck... And thank you... For being nice... To me." With that, all the mirrors surrounding him disappeared an she disintegrated into dust, leaving Tsuna alone to digest what he had just heard. _Resolve?..._

~~~~~~~.

Gokudera threw his dynamites, not aiming directly at Tsuna, but at the ground a few feet away. He couldn't bring himself to hurt his boss directly. Even with the indirect attacks, he still couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt.

As Tsuna tried to avoid the explosion, Yamamoto came from the opposite side with his katana raised. Using the blunt side of the katana, he swung it at the back of Tsuna's knees, causing the brunet to fall.

Mukuro then quickly conjured an illusion to trap Tsuna but the brunet was too fast and managed to roll sideways and threw a punch at Yamamoto. The blow threw the Rain guardian against the wall, causing a large crater.

"Geez, I wonder what Reborn's going to do..." Yamamoto sighed. _Fighting against a friend is really difficult. Hibari doesn't seem to have any issues though,_ he thought as he watched the on-going fight. Ryohei's punches were not as strong as they usually were and Lambo was definitely holding back, as well as Chrome whose illusions weren't as destructive as her normal. Suddenly, his eye caught on to something. "Gokudera! Behind you!"

The Storm guardian instinctively swivelled round and threw an explosive which blew up at its target. "Shit! Juudaime! I'm so sorry!"

Everyone stopped and waited impatiently for the smoke to clear. "J-Juudaime?..."

The smoke soon dissipated and Tsuna appeared, his left shoulder bleeding profusely but he didn't seem fazed at all.

"Currently, he's not affected by pain and other emotions but at this rate, Tsunayoshi's body will be in ruins." Mukuro stated, his trident raised. This definitely did not bode well. He didn't want to take over a broken body after all.

"Boss... Please wake up!... Don't let it control you!" Chrome pleaded.

"Come on, Tsuna! I know you would never hurt us!" Yamamoto added, stretching himself. _Getting slammed into the wall is seriously no joke..._

"Tch, herbivore. Looks like I have to wake you up the hard way."

~~~~~~~.

"Reborn! I have the location! I-It's in the east wing underground!" Irie said.

"Got it," Reborn affirmed, making his way there. You're not getting away with this. Reaching the room, he made no effort to be discreet and kicked open the door, startling the two occupants inside.

"What the?! T-That's Reborn! Why are you here?! How?! Alfon, get him!" the one seated in a leather chair yelled.

"Hmph, don't underestimate me. Did you really think you could get away with all this? Messing with time?" the infant hitman growled, his Leon gun at the ready, aimed at the Scuro Vampa boss. His right-hand man immediately protectively stood in front of him, arms outstretched.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to hurt the boss," Alon said monotonously.

Reborn just smirked. "You don't have a choice." Without hesitation, Reborn started firing at Alon who could barely dodge them, leaving grazes all over. Alon tried to fight back but the level between him and the infant hitman was still too large.

"As expected of the world's greatest hitman... Boss, please leave." There was definitely no chance of winning.

"R-Right!" Lorenzo quickly stood up and made a mad dash for the door.

Big mistake.

Reborn shot at the floor in front of Lorenzo's feet, causing the boss to shriek.

"For a boss, you're more cowardly than Tsuna."

Lorenzo snorted and stepped back. "Not that your Decimo will survive after all that! Hah!"

Now it was Reborn's turn to snort. "I didn't train dame-Tsuna to be that weak. As a threat to Vongola and its Decimo, I will have to get rid of you." Reborn raised his gun. "Chaos Shot."

The attack was so quick that neither men had time to react. The bullet got them squarely in the head and they collapsed to the floor in a heap. "I didn't think they were that weak after all the big talk about the flames... Unless they were seriously depending on a trump card..." Jumping onto the table, Reborn scoured over the files, flipping them through. _All these experiments... Are failures? Even Miko? Seems like they didn't think things through before taking action... Such great minds yet this had to happen._ Retrieving another folder which was found in a locked drawer (broken by Reborn), he scanned through it, pausing at one of the sections. _The council... This guy...! Reborn immediately made Leon change into a phone and dialling a few numbers, he waited for the other side to pick up._

"Reborn?"

"Nono, the council-"

A soft chuckle was heard. "I'm already on it. All you have to do is send me that file about him. He made one crucial mistake that decided his fate. He forgot to clean his laptop of information. Even though he hid it well, it was found quickly with the help of flames."

The hitman felt slightly relieved at this but he had to remind himself that it wasn't over yet. It all depended on Tsuna now. "Thank you, Nono, I'll contact you when it's over."

"Of course." With that, they hung up and Reborn got off the table and headed to where Tsuna and the guardians were.

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna closed his eyes and took in a deep breath_. Resolve... Resolve..._

_I want to go back to my friends, I don't want to be separated from them anymore..._

"Tsuna!... Snap out of it!"

"Baka-Tsuna! You haven't played with Lambo enough yet! Stop fighting us!"

"Dame-Tsuna, stop being such an idiot."

Wh-What? Guys? Is that you? Tsuna opened his eyes and saw a faint screen showing his friends hurt. Injured.

_No way... All this time, I was fighting... Them? I can't! Get me out... I will protect my friends no matter what! I won't let them get hurt because of me! I won't let my precious friends suffer because of me!  
><em>The Scuro Vampa ring suddenly glowed and crumbled, revealing the Vongola ring. "It's... back!" clenching his fists tightly, he concentrated on his flames, willing them to activate. Slowly but surely, his Sky flames appeared but as wisps, which gradually grew stronger in intensity. The flame pulsated strongly on his head and Tsuna could feel the warmth of it. Relaxing his hands, he sent out bright bursts into his surroundings and the darkness was soon taken over by the orange flames.

His vision blurred for a while but cleared soon after, showing his friends in front of him. However, he saw a metallic weapon coming towards him, and when it collided with his chest, Tsuna crashed into the wall behind.

~~~~~~~.

Chrome dodged another blow from Tsuna, careful to avoid the black flames on his hands. Vines shot up from the ground, tying themselves around Tsuna's legs as they tried to pull him down. Tsuna leaned back to avoid Mukuro's swipe of his trident and sent a blast of black flames which were dissolved by the blue flames from Yamamoto.

"You okay there, Mukuro?" Yamamoto asked, wiping his sweat from his forehead.

The Mist guardian nodded as he sidestepped. "Ah, the infant is here."

Turning around, the guardians saw that Reborn had entered and some of them seemed glad to see the hitman.

"Dame-Tsuna, stop being such an idiot and snap out of it." Reborn said sternly, staring into Tsuna's dull eyes. Suddenly, for a second, there was a flash of orange. _Finally_.

Tsuna broke away from the illusion and tried to attack Chrome who was in front. Lambo quickly shot out sparks of lightning, forcing Tsuna to change his direction. The brunet jumped back but stopped all of a sudden. The black flames on his forehead and hands slowly turned to a pale orange and his eyes brightened again. However, Hibari had no intention of stopping his attacks, even when Tsuna was seemingly back to normal.

Tsuna blinked a few times before registering the incoming tonfa. Before he could react, Hibari slammed the tonfa into his chest, throwing the Decimo against the wall. "Ouch..."

Gokudera immediately rushed to Tsuna's side, crouching beside him. "J-Juudaime! Are you alright?! Of course not, what am I saying?! You're hurt! I mean you're back to normal right?! I'm so sorry! The wound on your shoulder was my fault! Please forgive me! I will kill myself if need be so-"

"G-Gokudera! It's really okay! I... I'm so, so glad that all of you are alright..." Glancing up at his guardians, some of whom were not exactly in tip-top condition, Tsuna added meekly, "Some of you, I mean..."

Everyone soon gathered round Tsuna, relieved that their friend was back. "Welcome back, Boss," Chrome greeted with a smile.

"I'm back..."

"And you're in trouble, dame-Tsuna." Reborn said as he kicked his student's leg with surprisingly little force.

_Uh-oh._

"But first, the medic. Your shoulder is bleeding."

"Ehhh?!" _No wonder I'm feeling a little dizzy..._

"I think we should get out of here, the place doesn't seem very stable from our destruction earlier on." Mukuro interrupted with a chuckle. He then pointed to Ryohei, "Especially from that noisy idiot."

"Hey! I had to extremely break down the walls to get out of there!" Ryohei defended. Lifting Tsuna up by the arm, the Sun guardian patted his uninjured shoulder. "It's extremely great to have you back, Sawada!"

Tsuna smiled as he leaned towards Ryohei for support. Yes, it was great to be back with his friends. He hadn't felt so at ease in years and with that warm feeling spreading inside him, Tsuna promptly fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Ahhh It's been so long! So sorry for the extremely late update! RL has been drain all my energy and it made me lose my drive to write :( As you can see, this story is ending... In the next chapter. I kind of felt that this chapter was slightly rush so I apologise for that!<p>

Anyway just a quick question and I hope you'll answer it! A Varia fic or a dark fic with Tsuna and his guardians? For the Varia fic, AU or Canon?

Oh and to the guest reviewer, what did you mean by you were having trouble keeping up with the story? Which part is confusing? Just wanna know so I can make amends to it!

Thank you everyone! Really appreciate all the reviews, faves and alerts!


	22. The Final Memory

**Read A/N below please!**

* * *

><p><em><strong>The Final Memory<strong>_

Tsuna stirred from his slumber, the strong smell of antiseptic stinging his nose. _Where… Am I?..._ Cracking open his eyes, he was faced with a white ceiling and a beeping sound ringing in his ear.

"J-Juudaime!... You're awake! I was so worried when you fainted and you were bleeding so much!-"

"Slow down, Gokudera…" Tsuna said softly with a smile. "Where are the others?"

"They'll be here in a minute," Gokudera answered. After a while of silence, Gokudera looked down at his Vongola Storm ring and sighed. "What happens now?... Will we be able to go back to our time in the future?" The moment that was said, the door burst open and in came the rest of Tsuna's guardians.

"Tsuna!"

"Boss!"

Tsuna smiled and waved. _They seem okay… I'm so glad…_

"Baka-Tsuna," came a high pitched voice.

"Reborn!... Thank you…"Tsuna said, allowing the infant hitman to sit on his good shoulder.

"Anyway, now that the Scuro Vampa has been taken down in this time, it's time for us to head back to the future. We can't stay here forever."

_Wasn't planning to…_ "Ouch!" Tsuna yelped when Reborn flicked his cheek. "What now?..."

Reborn rolled his eyes. 'You're the boss, Tsuna. Your call."

Tsuna thought for moment before looking up. "I guess we'll just have to see if Spanner and Shoichi have progressed with the time machine then. If it's done, then all is well, but if it's not… We might have to find an alternative or wait for the machine to be ready."

"Oh oh!" Lambo yelled, waving his hand wildly. "Why not modify the ten-year bazooka and blast us all back!"

"Idiot cow! That would just send us back with this body! We want our adult selves back!" Gokudera grumbled as he slumped in his seat. The atmosphere in the room seemed to drop as everyone kept silent.

"Don't worry, we'll sort this out somehow," Tsuna said with resolve. "Go back and get some rest, tomorrow we'll meet at the base to check on them."

"But, Tsuna, your wounds!" Yamamoto said worriedly as he eyed the heavily bandaged shoulder.

The brunet merely shook his head and smiled. "The Sun flames are healing well! Don't worry okay?"

Yamamoto reluctantly agreed and as they all left the room, Tsuna couldn't help but let out a sigh. "Gokudera, you too."

"B-But-!"

"You need to rest for tomorrow!" Tsuna said, nudging his Storm guardian. Once there was no one else except for Reborn and Tsuna in the room, the tutor hopped off from the shoulder and landed on Tsuna's lap. The boss reached for his phone and pressed a few numbers. "Shoichi? How is everything?... Yes, yes, I'm fine-… Got it…. Where can we find it?... Ah I see… We'll discuss this tomorrow, take care…" Hanging off the called, Tsuna turned to Reborn. "They're missing a device for the time machine, other than that, it seems fine. All they need is a… Alternating warp drive. And I have no idea what it is."

Reborn shrugged. "We could ask Talbot about it."

"Reborn?"

"Go on," the infant said, knowing what his student was going to ask.

"What now? How much will the future change?"

Reborn obviously had thought about it when he immediately gave a reply. "With the Scuro Vampa gone, you will continue to be the Vongola Decimo."

"And-"

"And the Armonia Family will be no more."

A downcast look appeared on Tsuna's face and he raised his hand, his eyes fixated on the Vongola ring. "We'll go home, and everything will be back to normal." He whispered.

~~~~~~~.

Tsuna stretched his arms as he strolled out of the hospital. Rubbing his healed shoulder, he quickly made his way to the car waiting for him.

"Decimo, congratulation on your discharge." The driver politely said.

"Thank you, we're headed for the temporal base right?"

The driver nodded slowly. "Yes… Yes we are. Sir?"

Tsuna felt his hyper intuition act up. "Is there a problem?"

"I have an alternating warp drive with me, in my right pocket now."

Tsuna was bewildered and raised a brow. "W-What? Shoichi said it's almost impossible to get one-"

"I'm sorry," the driver said as he turned to the Decimo, swiftly drawing a gun from his suit.

_Bang._

~~~~~~~.

"The omnivore is late," Hibari muttered as he paced up and down the room impatiently.

"Maa, maybe there's a traffic jam on the way here!" Yamamoto said.

Shoichi screwed on the last bolt and patted it. "Spanner, you done?" The technician grunted. Taking out the lollipop from his mouth, he said, "Just the alternating warp drive left."

"I told Tsuna to inform Talbot about it. That idiot must have forgotten." Reborn said. Suddenly he stopped in his tracks. Tsuna… "Something's off."

At once, everyone turned Reborn and the room fell into silence.

"I'll call Tsuna," Yamamoto said hurriedly. "N-No one picked up…"

Just as Reborn was about to say something, the door flew open and a panting Tsuna entered. "S-Sorry I'm late… I got… Held up. Oh and here's the alternating warp drive thing." Tsuna said in between breaths, handing Shoichi the device.

"Ehhhh?! How did you get it?!"

Tsuna gave a nervous laugh. "Well… The driver told me that he had it in his pocket and all of a sudden he tried to shoot me-"

"WHAT?! I'll kill that guy if I ever get my hands on him!" Gokudera yelled angrily. "How dare he try to hurt Juu-"

"Ahh, too late for that, he shot himself after I punched him." Tsuna interrupted. "Turns out he was the last few Scuro Vampa members. He told me there's was no point anymore so he decided to try and kill me. The device was like a prize I guess."

"How desperate," Reborn commented as he turned towards the time machine which whirred to life.

"At least Tsuna is safe to the extreme! We can finally go home and be a family again!" Ryohei cheered, slinging an arm around Tsuna.

"Alright, I've set the machine to take all of you five years into the future where you will be back in your original bodies. I'm not too sure about the state of the place though." Shoichi said, wiping his brow.

Tsuna took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Well then, let's go."

Stepping into the portal, Tsuna felt himself being sucked in and falling down an endless pit. Closing his eyes, he felt himself falling faster and faster till he came to a sudden halt. Slowly cracking open his eyes, Tsuna realised he was still in the portal with bright white light surrounding him. "I really hope this is part of the whole time travelling thing…" he muttered.

As soon as he said that, he started falling again and this time, he hit solid ground. "Ow… my arm…" The Decimo slowly pulled himself up from the carpeted floor and glanced around. Standing up, he went over to the desk and grabbed the first thing he saw on it. Paperwork.

"This… This is my handwriting! And the date…"

"Juudaime! Where are you?!" Loud stomping was heard from outside, followed by more footsteps behind. As the door open, Gokudera rushed in and pulled Tsuna into a tight hug. "We made it! We're back!"

"Y-Yes we did… Now can y-you let go…" Tsuna spluttered. When Tsuna was released from the vice grip, he realised that Reborn was with them. "Where's Reborn?"

Mukuro raised a brow. "Kufufu… He wasn't with us when we landed…"

_Shit. Don't tell me he was transported somewhere else? Or maybe something went wrong! Oh no, what if-_ Tsuna's thoughts were rudely interrupted with a kick to the head. "Reborn!"

"Ciaossu. It took a while to get here from the other end of the mansion you idiot." Reborn said, smirking as he pushed up his fedora. "And now that Tsuna is the Decimo again, it's time to go back to work. No, Tsuna, you're not getting out of paperwork." A collective groan was heard throughout the room, mainly from Ryohei, Lambo and Yamamoto. "And Tsuna?"

Sighing as he fell on the couch, he answered, "Yes, Reborn?"

"Good job."

Revealing a goofy yet truly happy smile, Tsuna petted Reborn's fedora. "Thank you…"

~~~~~~~.

-Five years later-

"Tsuna! Are you ready?" Yamamoto asked as he popped his head into the office.

"Almost done! Last signature!... There!" Pushing back his chair, he grabbed his hoodie from the couch and left the room.

"Heh, it's been a while since we weren't in suits eh?"

The Decimo nodded in agreement. "It feels great to be going out! I hope Lambo doesn't eat anything before we get there…"

Tsuna and Yamamoto made their way to the large SUV where the other guardians were and waved cheerfully. "Let's go!"

"You are most definitely not driving, stupid turf-top!"

"Why not?! I'm qualified to the extreme!"

"You nearly drove us into the river, you idiot!"

"I didn't-"

"I'll drive!" Hibari interrupted, snatching the keys out of Gokudera's hand. "Now get in the car before I bite you two to death."

Gokudera muttered angrily under his breath before getting in the car with a sour face. Tsuna chuckled at his guardians' antics and nudged Yamamoto to get in. "Don't sulk, Gokudera! We're going for an outing!"

Soon, they reached a large hill which overlooked the vast expanse of the sea. Arriving at the top, Lambo was the first to jump and roll on the grass. "This is so awesome! It's really windy here!"

Chrome started to lay out the mats while the others grabbed the picnic baskets and before long, everyone was gathered and were relaxing in the cool breeze.

"I'm so glad to have met you guys, you know?" Tsuna said to no one in particular as he laid on the grass.

"And it's been an honour to be your friend, comrade, and family!" Gokudera exclaimed, all hints of his anger from earlier dissipated.

"I agree!" Yamamoto laughed as he handed Gokudera a sandwich. Hibari merely gave a sliver of a smile and rested against a tree near Tsuna.

Bringing his Vongola ring to his lips, he gave it a peck before raising and tilting it in such a way that he could see all his friends in the reflection.

_My Famiglia, my friends, thank you for everything…_

**The End**_  
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><p><strong>AN HERE**! And there you have it! The (short) final chapter of The Sky's Reflection after a long wait (My sincere apologies!)! Thank you so much to everyone who has read, faved, alerted and reviewed this story! I know my standards have dropped lately and I'm actually quite upset with myself about it. But I'm really glad you've stuck with me so far :'D Any last reviews?~_  
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Now that this story is complete, it's time for me to concentrate on my other two incomplete ones... I will be writing some short stories in between writing chapters for my other stories so hopefully I'll seem more active haha~

I have another major story in the makings (It's going to be a really long series!) but I won't publish it so soon!

Thank you all once again for your support and even though this story isn't really popular, I'm still happy that there are some people reading it...

Hope to see you soon on my other stories! Bye! (Oh gawd I feel like crying. I don't like ending stories, no matter how bad they are..)

P.S WHY NOT READ 'ARCOBALENO PARENTING' AND 'LOVELY MADNESS'? :D


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